Sickest patients may no longer get spot in ICUs as COVID-19 surge overwhelms North Idaho hospitals (copy)

State leaders have declared crisis standards of care in North Idaho hospitals, including Kootenai Health, where administrators had requested the declaration.

The Coeur d’Alene hospital has been hit with a massive surge in COVID-19 patients in the past month, exceeding the hospital’s staffing capacity to care for patients.

Over the weekend, Kootenai Health added about a dozen more COVID-19 patients, bringing the total to 108 patients with the virus in the hospital with 39 patients receiving critical care.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, which activated crisis standards of care this morning, has warned residents that normal hospital care could look differently, with staffing strains and beds limited in the two most northern Idaho health districts.

Crisis standards of care are, in essence, the last resort of every health care system struggling to meet the demand for services.

“It means we have exhausted our resources to the point that our healthcare systems are unable to provide the treatment and care we expect,” said Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen in a news release.

“This is a decision I was fervently hoping to avoid. The best tools we have to turn this around is for more people to get vaccinated and to wear masks indoors and in outdoor crowded public places. Please choose to get vaccinated as soon as possible – it is your very best protection against being hospitalized from COVID-19.”

There are 10 hospitals, including many smaller critical access hospitals, included in the crisis standards of care area impacted by the department’s announcement.

Hospital staff will now be prioritizing care to the greatest number of patients possible to save the most lives possible, meaning patients might be placed in different rooms or settings not designed to treat their conditions, or access to certain medical equipment or care will be inaccessible.

Kootenai Health and the Department of Health and Welfare are both hosting press conferences this afternoon.