DUBOIS – A teleconference addressing several items and questions was held by officials of Penn Highlands Healthcare Tuesday, including information on COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Shaun Sheehan, medical director of emergency medicine and COVID-19 task force leader, Mark Norman, chief operations officer of PHH, and Andrew Kurtz, retail pharmacy director and vaccine lead, gave the update and answered submitted questions from the press.
Sheehan said that Penn Highlands recognizes how people pared down their Thanksgiving celebrations for safety, and said that now everyone is looking towards the Christmas holiday and the Centers for Disease Control has guidelines for the upcoming celebrations.
Recommendations include hosting events for your household only, but if you do have others at your home, hold the gathering outside or, if that isn’t possible, inside with windows open to provide ventilation.
Keep a distance of six feet, wear masks except when eating or drinking and frequently wash hands.
Additionally, Sheehan said that those who are at high risk, have symptoms or have been exposed within the past 14 days should stay home.
He also referred to updated guidelines from the CDC regarding quarantine procedures. One of the most significant changes is how long you must quarantine.
According to the CDC: “Options … include stopping quarantine after day 10 without testing or after day seven after receiving a negative test result (test must occur on day five or later.
“After stopping quarantine, you should: watch for symptoms until 14 days after exposure; if you have symptoms, immediately self-isolate and contact your local public health authority or healthcare provider and wear a mask, stay at least six feet from others, wash their hands, avoid crowds and take other steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
Sheehan also explained hospital diversion and said it can happen for a variety of reasons, not just a pandemic situation. He said mainly diversion status is used to divert a surge at an emergency room.
If a hospital is on diversion status, they will keep in contact with 9-1-1 Centers and Emergency Medical Services and direct ambulances to another hospital.
However, if EMS reports the patient is unstable, they will proceed to the nearest hospital regardless of the diversion status.
Kurtz spoke about the status of vaccine for the region.
He said the first vaccine from Pfizer is anticipated to arrive in about two weeks and will be given to front-line employees first.
As more vaccine comes in from other sources, first responders and the most vulnerable—such as patients in nursing facilities—will get priority, and then PHH will follow CDC guidelines for distribution.
Sheehan also explained that flattening the curve in the spring was to reduce the number of people who have the virus at any given time and help hospitals cope.
The state Department of Health is showing an uptick of local patients now, and hospitals could have a problem if this continues, so he encouraged residents of the PHH region to practice the procedures to reduce transmission.
He also reminded the public that if a patient has what is called “co-morbidity” or a condition that increases their danger if they contract COVID, such as a heart condition, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, diabetes, etc. they are at a higher risk of death.
One question raised was in regards to trusting the numbers when healthcare facilities receive additional funding for positive cases.
Norman responded that healthcare facilities are held to standards on how illnesses are reported to the CDC and Pennsylvania DOH and if they falsify data, they put themselves at serious risk.
Norman also noted there have been over 23,000 tests in the PHH region and over 2,000 have been positive. He added that some of those positives are repeat tests for people checking whether they can return to work and are still showing positive.
Sheehan said as of Monday, there are 80 active cases and there have been less than 20 deaths since spring.
He recommended keeping an eye on state DOH statistic dashboard to have an idea of what the current status of any area is.
PHH has 50-60 intensive care unit beds and more can be added. There are 40 ventilators, and anesthesia machines can be converted if needed.
Sheehan also said they delay putting patients on ventilators as long as possible and have had success with other methods, such as bi-pap machines.
The DuBois hospital campus has the largest number of ICU beds and multiple critical care units, and there are three specific COVID units within the PHH region