Marcia Thompson and other nursing staff work in August at Johnson Memorial Health in Franklin.
Another COVID-19 surge is filling up hospitals locally and around the state, and making it more difficult to get tested for the virus.
The surge has caused area hospitals to be off and on diversion, and local testing sites to ration supplies. Most area hospitals, including Johnson Memorial Hospital, were on diversion Wednesday morning due to an uptick in both COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses, said Dr. David Dunkle, Johnson Memorial Health president and CEO.
Fifteen COVID-19 patients were being treated Wednesday at Johnson Memorial, and that number has held fairly steady the last few days. That’s up from about 10 patients a day before Thanksgiving, Dunkle said.
Indiana is approaching COVID-19 hospitalization levels not seen since this time a year ago, before vaccines were widely available. Hospitals were treating nearly 2,500 COVID-19 patients as of Sunday, a 106% one-month increase, and a 25% one-week jump, according to the Indiana Department of Health. About a quarter of those patients are in hospital intensive care units. Hospitalizations are almost as many as the September peak from the state’s summer surge, and within 1,000 of the late-2020 surge that threatened to overwhelm hospitals.
IU Health, Indiana’s largest hospital system, said Thursday it is enlisting the Indiana National Guard’s help as its struggles to manage the surging volume of COVID-19 patients at its network of hospitals. IU Health officials said that amid the growing numbers of COVID-19 patients in all 16 of its hospitals the “demand and strain on Indiana University Health’s team members, nurses and providers has never been greater.”
The new omicron variant has not been discovered in Indiana, but the idea that it could be discovered any day is keeping health care workers on their toes, Dunkle said.
Early data indicates the variant is more contagious, but the jury is still out until scientists are able to study the variant more thoroughly. The recent surge is likely caused by holiday gatherings being held without any regard for COVID-19 precautions, and because so many across the county and state remain unvaccinated, he said.
As of Wednesday, 59% of Johnson County residents and 53% of Indiana residents are fully vaccinated.
The disregard for precautions and the failure of so many to get vaccinated is frustrating to health care workers. If people would get vaccinated, there would be more beds to go around and less stress on over-worked health care workers who have been dealing with pandemic for nearly two years now, Dunkle said.
Hospital workers are on a see-saw of diversion and staff continue to be stretched thin, while many have abandoned COVID-19 precautions though the virus continues to spread. The generally high number of patients is part of the diversion problem, but the acuity, or level of care, that is required for COVID-19 patients makes hospitals even more likely to go on diversion, he said.
“It frustrates us when residents of this county are forced to leave the county to meet their health care needs. It isn’t just (me); it is the nurses, the physicians. We want to be able to treat their medical needs. The frustration is palpable when we have to go on diversion,” Dunkle said. “We have a responsibility to provide quality care and we can only stretch so much without sacrificing care.”
Patients are still accepted while hospitals are on diversion, but it takes longer for those patients to receive care, and makes it more likely that someone with an emergency will have to travel farther for faster care, he said.
Dunkle recommends getting vaccinated with both COVID-19 and flu shots and wearing a mask in public, especially when sick with a respiratory illness.
The surge has also caused a shortage of testing supplies, prompting some local testing sites to change the types of tests available or close completely.
The Johnson County Health Department’s drive-up testing site at Compass Park now only offers PCR testing, which is the type of test that takes several days to process. The site has a limited supply of rapid tests that are reserved for students who need clearance to go back to class after exposure to COVID-19, said Betsy Swearingen, health department director.
The local health department gets its supply of rapid tests from the state health department, but the state’s supply dried up on Monday, Swearingen said.
When a consistent supply of rapid tests is available again, the health department will resume offering them at Compass Park, she said.
Despite the surge, many testing sites are no longer open. The state’s testing site map shows tests are available at Compass Park, and most CVS and Walgreens pharmacies. There is also a pop-up test site run by the state health department at Starlight Dance Academy in New Whiteland.
Testing is also available at Kroger Little Clinic locations and a local Walmart Pharmacy, 882 S. State Road 135, Greenwood, according to the retailers’ websites. At-home, rapid test kits can also be purchased at most retailers that sell medication and online.
Johnson Memorial Health is offering testing at the hospital, but only with doctors’ orders.
Testing is available at Compass Park and Starlight Dance Academy on a walk-in basis, but other testing sites require an appointment.
The high demand for testing has remained consistent for several weeks, Swearingen said.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” she said. “Get vaccinated, remain vigilant and pay attention to those precautions.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
