Editor’s corner: COVID uptick adds to turbulence at hospitals
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Thank goodness for Wednesday's vote. Just days earlier, Warren General Hospital had been given notice of a strike that could possibly occur on Dec. 21.
As it played out, the administration and the union staff of about 114 reached a deal early this week. "We were able to build a framework for safer staffing and a better plan for staff recruitment and retention," said Charlene Fohrd, R.N., an eight-year Warren General Hospital veteran and co-president of the Warren General Hospital Professional Employees Association, on behalf of the entire Bargaining Committee. "Our first concern is always our patients and we're grateful to the community for supporting us in this effort."
Of course, pay and benefits had a lot to do with the agreement as well. Those are always sticking points in any negotiation.
Warren General in recent years has been an excellent organization. It has one thing going for it the two nearby New York state hospital do not: a surplus of more than $6 million when it comes to operations in 2019. While the 990 Internal Revenue Service documents detail troubling years for the major two health care facilities in Chautauqua County, Warren General has seen tremendous stability while being overseen by Rick Allen, chief executive officer.
For the record, Brooks-TLC Hospital System in Dunkirk recorded a deficit of $12.5 million -- even after more than $15 million in New York state subsidies -- while UPMC Chautauqua in Jamestown noted being in the red by $25.8 million during that same year. To be fair, the IRS documents are a snapshot of one year of operations. But they are the cold, hard numbers -- all recorded before the virus was ravaging our world.
Statistics released last week by the Chautauaqua County Health Department signaled both improvement and alarms when it came to the virus. From Dec. 5 to 11, there were 726 new cases -- down from 827 the previous week, 11 additional deaths and a seven-day positivity rate of 10.2% with 41 hospitalized.
Over the last year, the statistics are an even grimmer picture of life with COVID -- even after vaccinations. Since Dec. 17, 2020, there have been 14,447 cases of the virus reported in Chautauqua County, reaching the current total of 17,195 -- about 13.5% of the population. There also have been 244 total deaths attributed to the illness, with 219 of those coming in the last year.
Hospitals are nearly bursting at the seams there after seeing a bit of a respite during the warmer months. According to numbers provided by the New York Health Department through Sunday, UPMC Chautauqua reported all 68 staffed beds were filled, including six in intensive care. Brooks-TLC Health System noted 31 of 35 beds were filled as well as the seven in intensive care. Smaller Westfield Memorial, with six beds, had five patients as of Sunday. County beds, acccording to the state dashboards were not as filled here on Wednesday with only seven battling the virus.
Our county, however, which has a population of 39,000, has seen about one-third of the total virus cases that have been reported in Chautauqua County at 5,400, touching about 14% of the residents.
Another spike at the holidays in our area would again turn up the heat on those who work in health care, a volatile sector before COVID-19. It has become even more of a challenge in this environment, especially for those on the front lines whose careers have revolved around care.
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Happy holidays.
John D'Agostino is the editor of the Times Observer, The Post-Journal and OBSERVER in Dunkirk. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 716-366-3000, ext. 253.