Post Labor Day COVID surge likely; hospitals working to add ICU beds and staff

Some COVID-19 numbers have moved lower in recent weeks, but Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Arkansas Secretary of Health Dr. Jose Romero worry about a post-Labor Day surge that could push deaths above 7,000 and further tax hospitals struggling with ICU beds and staff shortages.

The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) on Tuesday (Aug. 31) reported 2,626 new cases in the previous 24 hours, with active COVID cases falling by six to 22,422. Deaths rose 22 to 6,934, and patients on ventilators rose by 27 to 388. Hospitalizations fell by 45 to 1,212. The governor said 30% of new cases in recent weeks are among ages 0 to 18.

“We’re concerned about Labor Day coming up,” Gov. Hutchinson said during Tuesday’s weekly media briefing. “We’re concerned about continued activities with school. … We’re going to have a good season in football and sports. We’re going to be doing our businesses. We don’t have more restrictions, but we all want to take the right precautions of either wearing a mask, but most importantly, getting vaccinated.”

Dr. Romero said 99.3% of cases tested show the Delta variant, which he said is more transmissible and results in greater sickness. He also said hospitalizations, new cases and deaths will most likely rise after Labor Day.

“Every holiday weekend we have seen since the beginning of the pandemic we’ve seen a surge in the number of cases, so we are concerned,” Dr. Romero said.

Part of the Labor Day weekend will include the University of Arkansas football season opener in Fayetteville against Rice University on Saturday (Sept. 4), during which tens of thousands will gather to tailgate and move into the stadium to watch the game. When asked about the game possibly being a superspreader event, Gov. Hutchinson expressed faith in precautions taken by university officials.

“It’s an outdoor venue. And I think the university has taken appropriate precautions in that, and as long as they follow those and the public cooperates in it, then I hope that there will be a very safe time,” Gov. Hutchinson said, adding that most Razorback football players are vaccinated and “those in the stands will reach the same high level of vaccination.”

ADDING ICU BEDS, STAFF
Arkansas is one of five states – along with Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Texas – with available ICU beds under 10%, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As of Tuesday, only 19 of the 1,109 ICU beds in Arkansas were available, according to ADH.

Gov. Hutchinson said state officials have worked with healthcare leaders to budget $129.209 million in federal dollars for health care staff retention and bed capacity. Another $116.412 million was budgeted for staff retention in Arkansas nursing homes.

Under the plan supported by federal dollars, Baptist Health received $37.68 million to create 157 beds and necessary staff support for each bed, Unity Health-Searcy received $10.54 million for 43 beds and staff, Jefferson Regional Medical Center received $2.736 million for eight new beds and staff, St. Bernard’s Medical Center received $3 million for 10 beds and staff, and CHI St. Vincent received $12.42 million for 36 beds and staff.

Baptist Health CEO Troy Wells said the Little Rock-based system, which has 11 hospitals in Arkansas, completed on Aug. 25 the creation of 33 new ICU beds and 124 medical surgical beds.

“Those ICU beds filled up within 12 to 24 hours of being open. So that’s how bad those beds were needed,” Wells said.

Wells also said 87% of COVID patients in the 11 hospitals he runs are not vaccinated and the patients “are younger, and the patients are much sicker” than a year ago. He said Baptist Health has “brought in hundreds” of medical staff in the past few months, adding that health systems in the state are working to ensure staff recruitment does not pull from other Arkansas hospitals. He also said Baptist Health’s North Little Rock facility just opened 12 “COVID-capable beds” and three filled up immediately. He said they are working to add eight new ICU beds in Fort Smith and eight more ICU beds in Conway.

“So we haven’t stopped looking for real estate, if you will, for ICU beds. We continue to work hard on bringing in staffing from out of the state from nurses coming off of other contracts that can come to Arkansas. Respiratory therapists and RNs (registered nurses) primarily are the biggest resources that we need to make those ICU beds work,” Wells said.

Wells also said neo-natal ICU beds have become a problem with more pre-term babies delivered by unvaccinated mothers with COVID. He said they are working now to add eight more neo-natal ICU beds.