SHELBYVILLE, Ind. — A hospital in Shelby County recently ran out of ICU beds and many health experts warn we're still waiting to see the coronavirus surge from the holidays.
At one point over the weekend at Major Hospital in Shelbyville, capacity got maxed out.
"We are there. We are there. We stressed our staff to the maximum," said Jack Horner, president and CEO of Major Health Partners.
They had so many sick patients, about half with COVID-19, that they ran out of beds in ICU and inpatient care. It not only strained the facility, but also pushed hospital staff to the brink.
"It's most difficult on the staff. That's our biggest problem," Horner said. "Working around, getting the numbers, people working overtime. It's physically and emotionally exhausting."
"This past weekend was very difficult," added Dr. Cary Zietlow, hospitalist at Major. "Mostly it's just the sheer numbers. You know, spending adequate time with the patients, making sure they get all their concerns addressed, taking care of whatever the disease process is. Pretty soon you just ran out of minutes in the day."
Running out of beds, meant putting people without coronavirus in ambulatory holding rooms: reserve beds normally meant for observation, not inpatient care. But those rooms proved critical in keeping people cared for, something they wouldn't have had prior to the new Major Hospital opening four years ago.
"We've not had to care for anyone in a hallway yet. We've not had any not be able to be admitted into the ER. We've made...had the ability to make arrangements to care for people. That's our biggest key," Horner said.
It is the third time during the pandemic that Major Hospital has reached full capacity.
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This weekend, they had at least a dozen more people admitted with COVID-19 and doctors fear the surge from the holidays hasn't even peaked yet.
"Potentially we could see our numbers go even higher. It all depends on how well everyone washed their hands and wore their masks at Christmas dinner," Zietlow said.
Health care heroes, working overtime for nearly a year to battle the pandemic, are now pleading with the public to continue to mask up and social distance, even with vaccines on the way.
As their capacity crunch reaches critical levels, the mission to care for their community never stops.
"We will be here to care for patients," Horner said. "We're going to make sure that everyone who needs care, gets care."
"It's stressful," Zietlow added, "but we just say a few more prayers and come back in to do the work again."