MEDFORD, Wis. (WSAW) - Aspirus Medford Hospital is helping to offset some of the strains hospitals are experiencing due to COVID-19. It also is the host site for a federal medical team program with members coming from all over the country.
Throughout the pandemic, hospitals have planned for worst-case scenarios and surges in COVID-19 patients. At the beginning of October as cases and hospitalizations were rising, and as more staff had to quarantine and isolate after being exposed to COVID-19, Aspirus saw a need for more staffing. It applied for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) and was granted the assistance by mid-October.
“They have doctors and nurse practitioners also nursing staff, paramedic staff, and also respiratory therapists,” Jessica Faude, Aspirus Medford Hospital’s inpatient services director said. “We’ve been very grateful to have that extra resource and extra assistance here in Medford.”
The 25-30 DMAT members from Alabama, Arizona, California, and around the country have been integrated into the Aspirus Medford Hospital staff, working alongside them and their patients.
“The Medford Hospital was chosen as the facility for the DMAT team to come and assist because we have the capacity within our building to expand into additional areas so that we could offset our whole system with the rise in cases,” Faude stated.
She explained as other hospitals throughout the Aspirus system reach capacity or staffing limits, some get transferred to the Medford location. The hospital sees both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients, though the most severe typically stay at the Wausau location. Medford typically staffs up to 12-15 beds and the addition of the DMAT members allowed them to increase their capacity to staff up to 35 beds.
“Currently, about 50-75% of our patient volumes are COVID-positive patients and then we also have our normal regular volumes of patients,” Faude explained they typically see more patients at this time of year due to the flu season, but the COVID-19 positive patients are in addition to their typical seasonal numbers.
“(We) feel very fortunate to be able to have their assistance because it not only helps our community, but it helps our larger Aspirus system service area,” Faude said.
DMAT members will end their service Aspirus Medford Hospital Oct. 10. Faude said Aspirus does not have plans to ask for DMAT assistance again at this time, but it does have a different plan to bring in more staffing once the team leaves.
System-wide Aspirus is currently seeing about 380 total patients, nearly a quarter of which are inpatients due to COVID-19. That is down from its surge earlier in the fall just before the Thanksgiving holiday where there were more than 450 patients throughout its system which can handle about 500 total patients.
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December 04, 2020 at 05:37AM
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Federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team helps Aspirus Medford Hospital offset COVID-19 patient influx - WSAW
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