Upper Allegheny Health System hospitals are feeling the effect of COVID-19, but not how one might think.
In a media call Tuesday afternoon, Dr. William Mills, senior vice president of quality and professional affairs at Upper Allegheny, said Bradford Regional Medical Center and Olean (N.Y.) General Hospital are experiencing some shortages with medical supplies.
“We are struggling like the rest of the country with supplies,” Mills said. “Many of the supplies we get in healthcare are manufactured in China, which does make it difficult getting things in.”
However, he believes the hospitals are doing OK, if people follow the advice given by medical professionals, the CDC and the World Health Organization.
“The best thing you can do is stay home,” he said, “rest, fluids, Tylenol. If you are short of breath, call 9-1-1.”
Mills said people should call their doctor, or the hospital, or the state Department of Health if they are worried they might be showing signs of COVID-19. He cautioned, though, that callers need to be patient. “We’re trying to answer the phones but the phone lines have been overwhelmed.”
There have been no patients that have tested positive for coronavirus in Cattaraugus County or in McKean County, he explained. “In Cattaraugus County we have seven negative tests and 13 still pending.”
The Pennsylvania Department of Health does not release the information about how many have been tested per county, or how many tests might be pending.
“Olean General and Bradford Regional Medical Center are not testing centers,” Mills said. “It is still a problem throughout the state. The state and country are very short of the testing materials.”
While states are approving more labs to test for the virus, Mills said it isn’t necessary to test everyone. Tests are for people who have traveled to impacted countries, or been exposed to someone who is known to have coronavirus. And tests are being prioritized for people who provide public services, like physicians, police officers and firefighters.
“The real reason for the test is more epidemiological,” he explained. “We want to know (where the strain of virus) is from.”
The treatment isn’t impacted by the test — “It’s rest, fluids, Tylenol and self quarantining. That works.”
The worst cases have required inpatient care with a ventilator, and Upper Allegheny CEO Jeff Zewe reiterated that the hospitals are prepared if the need should arise.
“The typical usage (of ventilators) for the system is four,” Zewe said of Upper Allegheny. “We have 26. We have access to get a few more ventilators if needed.”
Mills said some “doomsday statisticians” might “crank it up to the point that the country is woefully short of ventilators,” but that is not the case. “We’re as good as we can get. We have more than an adequate supply.”
As far as current preparations go, Mills said things are working.
“We’ve done very well with our visitors coming to our hospitals,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’ve had some waiting in lines as we screened them. It’s been pretty smooth.
“Both our hospitals are remaining full service hospitals at the moment,” Mills explained. Diagnostics, X-rays and surgeries are still going on as scheduled. “We have not made any decision to limit or shut that down. We do not have the virus in the area; we’re continuing to run the organization as we always had.”
Mills mentioned again that people need to stay home.
“The worried well or people with just the sniffles are exposing themselves to serious illnesses” by going to the hospital or doctor’s offices. “Call first, whether it’s to your doctor or the emergency room.”
Zewe said Upper Allegheny is not navigating these unfamiliar waters on their own.
“There’s a lot of collaboration with the Department of Health. We’re not going this alone. We’re really working side-by-side, which is critical,” he said. “It’s challenging, and it’s moving fast. We have to be very adaptive.”
Mills also addressed the naysayers who have taken to social media to criticize the massive precautionary response as a hoax or a political stunt.
“This illness is pretty widespread. It is causing a lot of concern. You wouldn’t have the CDC or the World Health Organization doing what they were doing if it wasn’t serious,” he said.
Zewe added, “This is the reason we have these (media) calls. It is very, very serious. We want to be out there in the community telling the story. We’re taking it very seriously.
“We know the virus is in (the region) and it’s our job to keep it from getting into our hospitals.”
