Barton Hospital prepares to handle possible surge of COVID-19 patients

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There has been a lot of recent conversation about the stress COVID-19 patients have put on hospital systems across the country, including El Dorado County and South Lake Tahoe. Concern has been expressed about the occupancy rates at Barton Hospital and what its capacity is to handle the current surge of residents testing positive for the virus.

According to the state's COVID-19 website, as of Tuesday, December 2, 2020, there were 15 patients with COVID-19 in county hospitals, nine of them in South Lake Tahoe's Barton Hospital though that number may not always be real-time.

Barton's inpatient census has varied between 21 and 29 patients over the last ten days, with about six to ten of them being patients with COVID-19. Of those cases, anywhere between two and seven have been within the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) according to Barton's Director of Public Relations Mindi Befu.

"As COVID-19 cases rise locally and throughout the region, and patients need more care, Barton Health is implementing strategies to address emergent needs of its patients from its COVID-19 Response Plan developed in spring 2020," said Befu. "This plan includes the ability to expand capacity from 63 licensed acute care beds including nine specifically for critical patients to approximately 120 acute care beds including 25 beds specifically for critical patients."

Bed capacity is a term used to understand the trends in hospitalizations, but it is a fluid figure that can change throughout the week, and even day, and, means much more than just a bed count.

"Bed capacity fluctuates based on staff availability and patient acuity, which defines the level of care needed based on a patient’s health condition. Barton Memorial Hospital continues to have physical bed capacity; however, with global staffing shortages and other regional hospitals reaching inpatient capacity, we are experiencing staffing challenges," said Befu. "This staffing shortage is further impacted by community transmission of COVID-19 resulting in staff members in quarantine as they are exposed to COVID-19 in the community."

Befu said Barton continues to actively recruit for open positions as well as filling roles with temporary staff such as traveling nurses or staffing assistance through state and county programs. The number of available staff through those programs is decreasing due to demand.

Should patients in South Lake Tahoe need to receive a higher level of care, Barton and many other rural hospitals have transfer agreements with tertiary centers to ensure patients receive what is needed.

"As regional hospitals reach their capacity, transfers to these facilities can become compromised. Barton is partnering with intensivists and nephrologists through telehealth programs to ensure critical patients can receive specialized care within our Intensive Care Unit if necessary," added Befu.