University of Kansas hospital staffing shortages worsen, nearly 900 staff out amid COVID surge
Within the last week, roughly 400 additional employees at the University of Kansas Health System have been out due to the continued stress of COVID-19 on the hospital system.
“We’ve never even been close to this amount throughout the pandemic… It’s just unbelievable,” said Gail Schuetz, assistant chief nursing officer at the hospital.
On Jan 3., about 500 of the hospital’s more than 13,000-person staff were either isolating due to a COVID infection or awaiting test results following exposure to the virus. On Friday, that number rose to nearly 900, Schuetz said.
She said the number surged suddenly after the Christmas holiday.
On Dec. 23, a reported 10 people were out due to COVID in a peak for the hospital’s seven-day-rolling average, she said, and on Saturday the average was 72.
“For the last ten days it was all take and no give… so 100 more people went out each day and none of them were coming back,” she said.
Meanwhile, more people were visiting the emergency department each day.
With a shortage of staff and a rise in patients, the amount of available beds is shrinking. As a result, appointments have been delayed and wait times for patients have increased.
Many patients received electronic messages on Saturday, alerting them that that the hospital is “reallocating support” and “prioritizing critical resources.”
Schuetz said that means staff who don’t work directly with patients, but have some prior experience, are being asked to work at their bedsides or in transporting them across the hospital. Staff are working multiple jobs, covering for those out in the housekeeping department and assisting with COVID swabs whenever possible.
The hospital has also reduced the volume of their surgical cases to conserve resources, she said.
Unless it’s a life-threatening emergency, people showing up to the emergency room could end up waiting around six hours before being admitted to the hospital, sometimes more if there is not a bed available, she said.
When that has happened, staff resort to treating patients on the floor, she said.
The combination of low vaccination rates and less masking in public has allowed this to happen, Schuetz said.
About 51% of Kansans are fully vaccinated. The vaccination rate in Missouri is only slightly higher, with roughly 54% of people completing vaccination.
Due to the hospital staff’s 100% vaccination rate, those exposed are not getting seriously sick, and she expects many to be able to return to work in the coming weeks.
A new Centers for Disease Control guidance shortening quarantine and isolation times is expected to help bring people back to work. The hospital updated their recommendations on Friday.
“With the community spread of omicron and delta, we’re calling it a twin pandemic,” said Jill Chadwick, a spokeswoman for the health system.
As of Monday, 108 people were being treated at University of Kansas hospital.
By Saturday, that number rose to 153. Nine of those people were fully vaccinated, but had chronic illnesses that worsened the infection, and only one of them is on a ventilator, according to Chadwick.
“We were fearful that if people got together and traveled over the holidays, that this could be an outcome, and it’s coming to fruition. We’re not unique, this is happening across the United States, but it’s just hitting us really hard right now.”
Cases similarly have risen in the northeast, but in the midwest, the surge has been accompanied by hospitalizations greater than we’ve seen before, said Amber Schmidtke, who is the chair of the Division of Natural Sciences at the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth.
COVID patients filled up anywhere from 20% to well over 31% of intensive care units across the metro area during the past seven days, according to data from the U.S Health and Human Services agency.
The data shows cases in metro area counties rapidly increased for the past 14 days and continue to rise.
This story was originally published January 9, 2022 at 9:20 AM.
