Since Boulder County’s first COVID-19 case was officially documented in late March, residents have been living with the virus’ impacts. Now, after a long spring and summer, workplaces are contemplating how to return to a more typical schedule and schools are determining how to offer services, with the hopes to return to a hybrid model by the end of September.
As the community weighs the risks and benefits of resuming typical activities, it may be helpful to look at what things have been like at one of the frontlines of battling COVID-19 in Longmont – Longmont United Hospital. To this end, we’ve talked with Alicia Holland, manager of the hospital’s emergency department, and Orji Okereke, infection prevention program manager.
The two described a number of processes the hospital has taken to manage the virus. Measures include setting aside an area of the ER for COVID-19 patients that’s complete with four negative pressure rooms to manage airflow. The hospital also designated one of its four units for COVID symptoms providing 18 beds, as well as an additional six beds for COVID-19 patients in the ICU. None of these beds were in use as of the day this article was written.
Holland shared that currently, the ER sees between five to ten people a day who are concerned their symptoms may be COVID-19. Not all were referred by their doctors directly.
Since late March and early April, the hospital has seen 90 patients for COVID symptoms, according to Okereke. That’s a fraction of the 2,031 people Boulder County Public Health listed as having tested positive or been diagnosed as probably having COVID-19 in the county. Of these patients 70 were admitted to the COVID floor or the ICU, 38% of those hospitalized county-wide.
The two hospital officials shared that caring for these patients, particularly the patents admitted to the COVID floor and the ICU has been stressful. The caregivers have become like family to patients who are unable to have physical contact with their own family due to contamination fears.
One bright spot to combat the stress is that the experience is bringing caregivers closer, supporting each other and relying on teamwork to get through difficult moments. Another bright spot is the joy the floor feels whenever they’re able to send a recovered patient back home. These are moments of intense celebration for the staff, patients and families together.
As part of ongoing work to battle the disease, Holland and Okereke are passionate about COVID-prevention education. Their recommendations are consistent with the same instructions everyone sees everywhere else: stay at a social distance of at least six feet from others outside of your family; wear a mask when with others; practice frequent handwashing and stay out of large gatherings of people.
Education may be especially important for members of the Hispanic community, who have been impacted by COVID-19 in particularly high numbers. Okereke noted that while the hospital is treating community members of generally equal range of age groups, 54% of the patients identify as Hispanic. In July, the ratios were more pronounced, encompassing ten out of 13 COVID patients.
Statistics from Boulder County Public Health mirrors this finding, showing that Hispanic individuals make up just over 37 %of the cases in the county and are the second largest group affected. Okereke said that in his conversations with Boulder County Public Health they’ve discussed how, “many from these communities are working in jobs with high risks of contracting COVID-19, without adequate precautions. Then they bring it back home to their families.”
Okereke said that he saw the trend start to hit the hospital in May and June but that ongoing advocacy efforts in the community may be beginning to help.
