It was a busy 24 hours in Johnson County as local health, hospital and public safety officials worked together to manage the rapidly spreading coronavirus.
Local cases grew by more than 50% from Wednesday to Thursday, up to 40 confirmed cases, said Betsy Swearingen, Johnson County Health Department director.
Local and state health officials are monitoring a COVID-19 outbreak at Otterbein Franklin SeniorLife Community, a senior care facility in the county seat. Seven residents tested positive for the virus, according to a news release from the Johnson County Health Department.
Otterbein officials worked with Franklin and Bargersville firefighters and paramedics to safely transfer the seven patients to three area hospitals—Johnson Memorial, Community South and St. Francis, said Mike Pruitt, spokesperson for the county’s incident management team.
Otterbein Franklin has more than 500 residents, 165 of whom are in the nursing home, where the outbreak has occurred, said Gary Horning, an Otterbein spokesperson.
Last week, a contracted therapist and Otterbein resident were admitted to the hospital where they tested positive for COVID-19. The therapist is recovering at home and the resident remains hospitalized, according to an Otterbein news release.
On Monday, Otterbein officials learned that a nurse tested positive. The nurse is recovering at home, the news release said.
Otterbein officials are working closely with the local and state health department, which has deployed a COVID-19 “strike team,” according to the news release.
On Tuesday, the health department’s team tested 10 nursing home residents. The results came back Wednesday night, and seven tested positive for the virus, the news release said.
Families of any hospitalized or symptomatic residents have been notified, and they are no longer accepting any new patients or residents, Otterbein officials said.
On Thursday, the health department’s team moved asymptomatic residents from the unit where COVID-19 appears most prevalent to a separate unit, with designated caregivers.
“The original unit is being systematically cleansed and disinfected,” the news release said.
Otterbein’s medical director is testing other residents, according to the news release.
“Should anyone new show symptoms of COVID-19 or test positive, we will consult the Medical Director and take measures that are critically important to protect our caregivers and Otterbein Franklin’s at-risk residents currently free of the virus; and ensure the infected residents are in the right place to receive the best care,” the news release said.
Otterbein Franklin also employs about 300 people, Horning said. The following precautions have been put in place:
- Every employee is screened every time they enter the building;
- Health care (nursing, assisted living and apartment) residents who leave the campus will be isolated for 14 days upon their return until further notice;
- New health care (nursing and assisted living) admissions will be isolated to their rooms for 14 days;
- Direct caregivers for post-acute units wear masks and personal protective equipment;
- New health care (nursing and assisted living) admission residents will be masked while receiving direct care for 14 days.
Local hospital officials are preparing for a surge of new COVID-19 patients.
By Wednesday, four Johnson Memorial Hospital patients had tested positive, and 11 were waiting for test results, said Dr. David Dunkle, Johnson Memorial’s president and CEO.
To prepare for an influx of patients who need to be isolated, Johnson Memorial will open its new wing that’s been under construction for three years as early as today. It will make its debut as a COVID-19 isolation unit. It was part of a $47 million expansion project set to open April 25, but plans for the area changed quickly, Dunkle said.
The unit, which was intended to be used as a new outpatient services facility, is completely separate from the hospital and has room for 17 to 20 patients.
“It will really enable us to decrease the chance of passing the infection on to other patients,” Dunkle said.
Hospital officials were in meetings this week to come up with plans to add more beds, and part of that plan included opening the new unit by Monday. As the numbers continue to rise, they decided to open it sooner, he said.
Hospital staff on Thursday worked tirelessly to get additional beds, computers, monitors, food and other equipment ready for the new unit.
“We had so many admissions last night that we were like, ‘OK, we’ve got to get this thing going,'” Dunkle said. “We’re doing everything we can to open that unit.”
Staffing an entirely new unit will be difficult because the hospital still needs more staff in its intensive care unit. Administrators will likely pull staff from less busy units, such as outpatient surgery, to fill those gaps, he said.
“Hospitals run lean, like most businesses do,” Dunke said. “We don’t have a plethora of extra employees just hanging out.”
Three more deaths from illness related to the coronavirus were reported Thursday in Indiana, boosting the state’s total to 17 deaths as coronavirus cases rose to nearly 650 statewide amid the pandemic.
Three Johnson County residents have died, all Greenwood residents over the age of 75, said Swearingen, county health department director.
Indiana’s number of confirmed COVID-19 cases grew by 170 to 645 across the state late Wednesday, following corrections to the state’s previously reported total cases, the Indiana State Department of Health said.
A southern Indiana medical center, meanwhile, announced that 63 employees have been placed in quarantine after coming in contact with a patient who tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Officials at Schneck Medical Center in the Jackson County city of Seymour said the employees have been placed on a 14-day quarantine because of their interaction with a patient who was treated there while not exhibiting any coronavirus symptoms.
State health officials declined Wednesday to provide details on Indiana hospitals’ intensive care unit capacity and equipment availability around the state, with state health commissioner Dr. Kristina Box citing confidentiality arrangements with hospitals for not releasing those details.
In contrast, Illinois officials have provided updates such as the number of occupied hospital beds and ventilators in use around Indiana’s western neighbor and projections on what medical services will be needed if the virus outbreak isn’t contained.
Box said Wednesday, however, that she’s seeing “positive movements” in availability of ICU beds and ventilators in Indiana.
Gov. Eric Holcomb, whose statewide stay-at-home order took effect Wednesday, planned a Thursday afternoon briefing with other state leaders at the Indiana Statehouse on the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the state.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
