OLIVE BRANCH, Mississippi — Friday, those in the Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare system sounded the alarm with serious concerns as COVID patients near a record high, with strained resources and stressed staff.
"If we do not change the course that we are headed to, we are heading towards our darkest hours, our darkest days," Dr. Shaleish Patel said. "This surge is going to get much, much worse. We are anticipating it unfortunately when it was several months ago. So if we do not take action now, we are going to be in a lot of trouble. We are not going to have the ability to care for people, which is something we never want to see in the healthcare profession."
Dr. Patel said as of Friday morning, there were 262 COVID patients throughout the MLH system, with 60 patients in the ICU and only three ICU beds available.
"The ERs are inundated, not just here only at Olive Branch, throughout the entire Methodist Le Bonheur system," Dr. Patel added.
He added during this current COVID surge, the average age of those dying is 11 and half years younger, from 71.5 earlier to 60 now.
Also during this surge, 52% of the patients who have died are 61 and younger, compared to 18% at the earlier surge of the pandemic.
Dr. Patel added that the 82 COVID patients who died in MLH between June 1 and August 12, 96% of them weren’t vaccinated.
"We are very concerned about what could happen in the next couple of months," Dr. Patel said. "We are afraid. We are scared that all of our hospital systems will be inundated, in our opinion."
Dr. Patel said the new surge of critical cases is again taking a toll on medical teams.
"We are exhausted at this time. We are tired. We thought that the pandemic was coming to manageable level before this surge," Dr. Patel said. "We are trying to do the best we can. We are trying to recruit staff. We've asked for help from the federal government to try and recruit staff."
"Every victory that we get with a patient keeps reminding us as to why we do what we do and why we are going to continue doing what we do. When we are able to take a patient home back to their loved one, that's a victory that we take every day," Dr. Patel added.
Dr. Patel also shed light on what he's hearing from critical patients.
"The single most comment that we've gotten from these patients is 'I wish I had gotten the vaccine, I wish I had convinced my family to get the vaccine'," Dr. Patel said.
In Mississippi, elective surgeries that require overnight stays are postponed at least through the weekend.
In Methodist's Tennessee hospitals, doctors look at surgery calendars and determine surgeries should happen each day, based on staffing and available beds.
Certain rooms were also converted for COVID care and MLH staff can make further changes from plans already in place at earlier parts of the pandemic.
"We are very concerned about what could happen in the next couple of months," Dr. Patel said.
MLH staff also reminded the public to use minor med or urgent care centers for medical needs if they don't require emergency attention.
Still, Dr. Patel concedes overall care is being compromised with so many COVID patients, nearing the record high of 271 set January and January 6.
"Nobody wants to ever have a stroke and not be able to go to a hospital and get the appropriate care," Dr. Patel said. "If we do not change our actions right now, we are going to be heading down that road pretty quickly."