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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Duluth hospitals ready to treat COVID-19 patients

Jodi Summit
Posted 4/16/20

REGIONAL- As of April 14, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has confirmed a total of five deaths in St. Louis County linked to COVID-19. St. Louis County released data on April 10 which …

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Duluth hospitals ready to treat COVID-19 patients

Posted

REGIONAL- As of April 14, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has confirmed a total of five deaths in St. Louis County linked to COVID-19. St. Louis County released data on April 10 which counted two men in their mid to late 80s and a woman in her early 60s among the fatalities. The county is unable to release any additional details about these individuals or where they lived, as it is considered private data.
 The total number of positive cases in St. Louis County is 42, as of April 14, up from 34 on April 10.
Physicians and administrators from the two major hospitals in Duluth said they are ready to treat COVID-19 patients after having the time to increase the number of intensive care unit beds available at both Essentia and St. Luke’s. In addition, they said they have been working with clinics and smaller hospitals in other parts of the county to make sure all are ready for a possible influx of patients testing positive for COVID-19.
“We want to be overprepared and not underprepared,” said infectious disease physician Rajesh Prabhu, during a press conference held on Thursday, April 9.
“There is no question that social distancing is helping,” said Dr. Jon Pryor, president of Essentia Health’s east market. “There is clear evidence it is reducing the number of hospital admissions and deaths.”
But Pryor said the region still needs to be prepared.
“We are not over this yet. We have not hit our peak,” he said.
Pryor urged everyone to treat anyone they run into as someone who might be infected with COVID-19.
“You can get it from people who don’t even know that they have it,” he said.
Dr. Andrew Thompson, infectious disease physician at St. Luke’s, said staff at both hospitals are learning best practices in treating COVID-19 from their colleagues all over the world.
The gradual influx of COVID-19 patients, Thompson said, allows them to learn how to keep both their patients and employees safe.
Both hospitals have canceled all elective surgeries to make sure medical equipment, including ventilators, are available for COVID-19 patients when needed. Both hospitals have placed orders for additional ventilators, which are expected to be delivered within a month.
“We are tripling our capacity,” said Dr. Nicholas Van Deelen, chief medical officer at St. Luke’s.
The hospitals are still not sure when they will see a peak in COVID-19 patients seeking care.
“We don’t know when the peak is going to be,” said Pryor, “or when we will need these ventilators. We don’t have as many as we want. We want to be prepared for the worst. Both Essentia and St. Luke’s are striving to be overprepared.”
Both hospitals said they have adequate supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) at this time, but their modeling shows that once a surge in cases hits they will go through these supplies rapidly. They both have been purchasing as much PPE as possible since last December. They said the help they have been receiving from local companies who have stepped up to provide PPE has been invaluable.
While COVID-19 testing is being done in Duluth and Virginia with test kits being sent to the Mayo Clinic for analysis, St. Luke’s does have the ability to do a few rapid tests on site.
They now have the ability to test any patients admitted with possible COVID-19 symptoms, they said. The hospitals tested 52 patients in Duluth on April 8, with another eight tests done in Virginia. The patients tested in Duluth included patients from across the county.
Pryor said the hospitals are working in unison with their partner clinics throughout the county.
“They are as prepared as we are,” Pryor said.
The best thing the public can do to help right now is to stay home, keep washing their hands, and be sure to practice social distancing if one needs to be out, said Van Deelen.
“We need more time,” he said.