This graph, used by Dr. Jaewon Ryu, President and CEO Geisinger, shows the increase in hospitalizations because of COVID-19
You can link here to the Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way seminar.
SUNBURY – One patient is admitted to Geisinger facilities every hour with COVID-19…that statistic was part of the reality message, and the plea from healthcare providers Thursday night. The plea is to take the pandemic seriously.
Evangelical Community Hospital President and CEO Kendra Aucker, “Last week we had 35 patients admitted with COVID and the truth is, for us, from March through August… we did not have 35 total patients that were COVID positive that were hospitalized. So the increase in COVID patients comes at a time when we’ve experienced increases in patients with other hospital needs that require hospitalization. This combination is truly taxing on our resources.”
“Clearly COVID has been in our area but it is spiking at present and we need the community to take this seriously. For many people the issue is probably more political, rather than based on everyday reality and for us, this is a real public health crisis and people need to respond with a serious sense of responsibility. We find ourselves as health professionals, in a time when many people don’t believe what we say. Please believe me when I tell you that this is real for me, and this is very real for my staff. It is not political. We are caring for your parents, your aunts and uncles and siblings and your neighbors,” she said.
Dr. Jaewon Ryu, President and CEO of Geisinger, there are many people with the virus at Geisinger, “What we also see, is only about two-thirds of our patient population is 65 and older, which means a solid third, and in recent weeks it’s been as high as 41% of our patient population, is actually younger than 65, and actually, half of them are younger than 55. And so it really starts debunking they myth I think that a lot of folks in the community may have—and certainly we’ve all had it during certain stages of this pandemic—but those are the facts that we’re seeing.”
“Even the young and even the healthy believe it or not, can be hospitalized, can be very sick, we have some folks that are in their forties, with no chronic diseases whatsoever, that are on ventilators in our ICU right now. And so I think that’s important that we understand the facts behind what is going on. The other astounding fact that I heard earlier this week, we are now at the point that every hour, someone is getting hospitalized at one of the Geisinger to one of the facilities with COVID. And so the rate of climb on this is very concerning as we head into the holidays, as we head into the colder weather, he said.
Lynn Yannes, Register Nurse, implored the people to take the pandemic seriously, “There are a lot of people that are not masking and are not social distancing and are having their keg parties, and their having their football parties, and they’re having the birthday parties, and for some people, that may be their last birthday party.”
“And get together this Thanksgiving may result in somebody’s last Thanksgiving, and people need to realize this is serious. Even my family, they love and they support men, and they don’t understand. Unless you are here. And you’ve held the hand of a dying person, whose family can’t come in, it is…there are no words. Truly.”
We’ll air more excerpts on WKOK in the days ahead.
