It may not feel like it, but central Ohio may have avoided the worst of the omicron surge.
At a recent board of trustees meeting, Memorial Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jason Russell said that when Cleveland hospitals were swamped by omicron patients early this month, central Ohio hospitals braced for the worst. He said traditionally when a surge crosses into Ohio it takes about two weeks for the center of the state to be impacted.
With that in mind, Memorial officials began to plan for increased patient volumes. But that two-week buffer would have ended last week and Memorial Hospital hasn’t seen any noticeable bump, according to Russell.
“Still very busy. Still very full,” Russell said. “But it’s what we have been accustomed to handling.”
According to an Akron Beacon Journal report, caseloads began to subside in Northern Ohio around mid-January, but remain high in 12 counties in southern Ohio.
Russell said Memorial Hospital is currently handling anywhere from 10-16 COVID patients at any one time, which represents more than 30% of the facility’s patients. He said the numbers are basically the same as they were last month in regard to the virus.
He said omicron patients at the hospital are having shorter stays than during the delta variant surge in 2021. Delta patients had average stays of 10-20 days, but most omicron patients are discharged from the hospital in less than nine days. Omicron patients seeing extended stays at Memorial tend to have co-morbidity factors working against them, Russell said.
Russell said the staffing levels at the hospital have been impacted by omicron. He said the staff absences were at their highest level last week and remain elevated this week, but the facility has not been forced to enact its diversion plan for patients, as it did various times in 2021.
In other business, the board:
•Approved the transfer of $4 million to the Memorial Medical Group, a routine practice to cover physician payments.
•Learned that Messer Construction will serve as the general contractor for the project to complete 12 patient rooms in the new in-patient tower that are currently just shells. Construction should begin next month.
•Learned that Marker Construction will be the contractor for the occupational health service renovation. Work is scheduled to begin in March.
•Learned that Memorial is currently getting cost estimates to expand the central sterile and surgery unit.
•Learned that Dr. Forrest Schwartz has performed the first knee replacement using Memorial’s newly purchased ROSA surgical assistance robot. Three more knee replacements are also scheduled.