Westmoreland covid hospitalizations up but Excela officials say they can handle it

The number of patients hospitalized in Westmoreland County because of the coronavirus jumped 27% in the last few days — from 131 patients on Saturday to 166 on Wednesday, according to state data.

That’s a 55% increase from Nov. 30, when the county reported its first triple-digit patient count.

Excela Health last week added 12 beds at one of its three hospitals and is “consistently redeploying staff” to help treat covid patients, said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Carol Fox. About 40% of current patients at the health system’s hospitals were admitted because of the coronavirus.

“We’re looking to see how we might (add more beds) at another campus,” she said.

But space isn’t a problem — it’s keeping staff levels up as employees contract the virus and are either off sick or quarantining. Hospital staff at Frick in Mt. Pleasant, Latrobe and Westmoreland in Greensburg are being pulled from other departments to help with covid patients. Fox said she is looking forward to Friday, when health officials expect to start inoculating employees in hopes that will keep them healthy and able to work.

“The employees are tired, I think they’re particularly worn down” from hearing from people who choose to ignore state health officials’ guidance to wear masks and avoid gatherings in an effort to slow the pandemic’s spread, she said.

“It is real. It is serious,” Fox said.

Westmoreland County has seen increased rates of infections and deaths since October as the virus spreads throughout the community. There are 69,215 county residents who tested negative for the virus, with a total of 15,148 positive, according to state data. Westmoreland has an estimated 352,590 residents, according to census figures.

On Wednesday, 27 of 89 ventilators were in use countywide — with 16 of those being used by virus patients. There were 24 people hospitalized in 90 available intensive-care units on Wednesday, state figures showed.

Countywide, 317 residents have died after contracting the virus. There have been 114 deaths in the first half of December, according to the state.

Facility-level data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services showed that Excela’s Greensburg hospital had an average of 76 patients with either confirmed or suspected covid for the reporting week of Dec. 4-10. That accounts for about 30% of the average number of inpatient beds available during that time.

Latrobe and Frick hospitals had an average of 44 and 14 covid patients that week, respectively. That’s 38% of the average number of available inpatient beds at Latrobe and about 42% in Frick.

Fox cautioned that numbers fluctuate regularly and shouldn’t be a reason to not seek hospital treatment for any type of illness. Health officials kept a close eye on patient load even before the pandemic started.

“We look at these numbers literally every two hours to kind of get a sense where things are,” she said. “We feel very confident in our ability to safely … care for patients.”

“The numbers are a snapshot in time” that will change repeatedly, said Robin Jennings, an Excela Health spokeswoman. Patients who have other illnesses should not wait to get treatment, a move that could potentially result in more complications, she said. The three hospitals are able to meet the needs of other patients while also handling the coronavirus load.

“They should not be trying to analyze a number and assign it a value that is not really applicable to their situation,” she said.