Dr. Roberto Colón of Premier Health, which operates Atrium Medical Center, said it’s “absolutely fabulous” to see that decline “because unfortunately when patients do get hospitalized, there is a higher chance that they’re going to have a worse prognosis and are going to have more problems down the road if they do in fact recover from COVID.”
“It’s one of the markers that we see of trends in the correct direction,” said Colón, the system vice president of Quality and Safety and chief medical officer and vice president of operations at Miami Valley Hospital.
So for now, it’s “cautious optimism,” he said.
The number of ICU patients in Ohio has declined at the same rate as total hospitalizations, close to 30 percent, over the past two weeks.
In Region 6, the decrease of COVID-19 patients in the ICU has outpaced the decline of the total number of people hospitalized with the virus. The total number of hospitalizations has declined by 20 percent, but the decline of ICU patients has decreased by 30 percent, according to the state. T
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services maintains a hospital capacity database by facility. Mercy Health-Fairfield, Fort Hamilton Hospital, West Chester Hospital and McCullough-Hyde Memorial are the local hospitals in that database.
Analysis of that data shows the largest hospitalization spike among these facilities were as early as late October and as late as early December for McCullough-Hyde.
Mercy Fairfield and McCullough-Hyde saw peak averages of COVID patients over a seven-day period starting on Dec. 25, according to the HHS data. Fort Hamilton and West Chester Hospital’s peak average were over a seven-day period starting Dec. 11.
Though the trend is going down, hospital officials say safety recommendations still need to be followed.
“We must stay vigilant,” said James Buechele, spokesman for the Kettering Health Network, which operates Fort Hamilton Hospital. “By continuing to wear masks, staying 6 feet apart, washing their hands and getting the vaccine as soon as possible, we can keep each other safe and help the downward trend continue.”
Safety protocols and the COVID vaccine remain “critical” tools for healthcare professionals, said Christa Hyson, spokeswoman for The Health Collaborative, a Greater Cincinnati nonprofit health and healthcare improvement organization.
“Having a significant portion of Ohioans vaccinated will help us prevent serious hospitalizations and death,” Hyson said.
Nearly 46,000 Ohioans have been hospitalized, more than 11,000 have died from the virus, according to the Ohio Department of Health on Friday.
Those who are hospitalized are at a greater risk for long-term complications from the virus or death, said Colón. Those who are hospitalized have a more severe form of the COVID-19 infection and are older.
“The majority of the people that end up getting into the hospital tend to be older and have more medical problems already which sets them up to have a worse outcome with COVID,” he said.
About the Author
