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Peachtree – As stories of overwhelmed hospitals spread across the state and country claiming rural hospitals are stretched to capacity, Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital wasn’t one of them, and local leaders would like it to stay that way.
“Even with the addition of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, EWCH continues to operate at about 30 percent capacity, which is typical for this time of year,” said Teresa Bowleg, director of operations and associate chief nursing officer. “EWCH has, at times, experienced high rates of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in proportion to other diagnoses; however, to date, we have not been overwhelmed.”
Cherokee County Health Director David Badger noted there’s a combination of different factors that help Erlanger Western Carolina, one being that it’s not the only hospital people from here go to for care.
“Things get spread out over a number of hospital systems,” he said.
While the hospital does provide daily updates to the state to help with its metrics – and the hospital believes the state’s assessment of it is fair and accurate – it cannot provide a regular report on capacity to the public. The number is fluid, and staff is flexed based on needs, so the report may appear to be misleading.
Bowleg asserted that the hospital is safe, and encouraged people to seek needed treatment and care from the hospital, especially in an emergency. The hospital faced financial issues due to the halt of elective surgeries at the beginning of the pandemic due to statewide mandates, and cost-cutting measures were put in place.
Stephanie Boynton, hospital CEO, said those measures, along with CARES Act stimulus funds, grants, and medicaid advance payments have helped make up the loss.
“I’m happy to say EWCH stands on a solid financial foundation,” she said.
As to the state’s claims that healthcare is harder to access in rural areas, Bowleg said Erlanger is making efforts to improve that here.
“One of EWCH’s biggest goals is to continue to improve access to healthcare in western North Carolina, and I think we’ve done a great job so far,” Bowleg said. “We’ve recently recruited six new primary care providers who are scattered throughout the area, and we’re providing more opportunities for specialty care as well.”
Being a part of the Erlanger Health System has also been a benefit to the hospital in its COVID response.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have received necessary supplies and continuous support and guidance from EHS’ Incident Command Center and the Infection Prevention Department,” Bowleg said. “Infectious disease specialists and other specialty physicians are available to us as needed for consultation.”
To treat COVID patients, the hospital has Remdesivir, monoclonal antibodies, convalescent plasma therapy and corticosteroids available.
“EWCH’s physicians and staff are capable and equipped when it comes to taking care of COIVD-19 patients,” Bowleg said. “In the event that a patient requires more specialized care, our staff works closely with tertiary care facilities to ensure a transfer.”
“In western North Carolina, as in other rural and remote communities, we depend on one another in a crisis,” Bowleg continued. “We have an obligation to protect our most vulnerable community members. During this pandemic, we must do everything in our power as a community to protect ourselves and our neighbors. This will help ensure that EWCH and health-care workers are not overwhelmed in the future.”
As the county sees an increased number of daily positive cases, and more of those people showing symptoms, Badger said it could lead to overwhelming the hospital.
“It wouldn’t take a lot to tip that scale,” he said.
Bowleg said everyone can help keep the community, hospital and health-care workers safe by following the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s recommendations, including understanding how COVID-19 spreads, washing hands often, avoiding close contact with others, using a mask when around others, and monitoring health daily.
Badger said the reality is to not get sick and don’t put yourself at risk.
“I’d also like to encourage everyone to get a flu vaccine if you haven’t done so already,” Bowleg said. “This year’s cold and flu season looks different than past years, so attempting to prevent yourself and those around you form getting the flu is important right now.”
As of Monday afternoon, the county had 80 active cases. Since March, the county has had 1,025 total cases, including 19 people from other states who tested positive while in the county, and 21 people who passed away after testing positive.
Badger said a number of the new cases in the past week were from Thanksgiving gatherings, and not necessarily large ones. The Cherokee County Health Department was very busy Monday morning, and he expected it to remain busy through the holiday season.
“We all knew it was going to be risky coming up,” Badger said of holiday gatherings with family. “When we do it, we’re putting ourselves and others at risk.”
He said we’ve all put ourselves at risk at some point, and he wasn’t going to judge anyone for their choices.
“There’s no right or wrong,” he said. “There’s no point casting blame.”
Badger said most who gathered were getting tested pretty quickly, and he had no more of a concern about community spread than usual, noting community spread is always a concern.
Using data collected from 996 cases, the state reported Monday that 10 percent of the county’s cases were those ages 0-17, 9 percent were ages 18-24, 28 percent were ages 25-49, 24 percent were ages 50-64, 16 percent were ages 65-74 and 13 percent were ages 75 or older.
Anyone who experiences symptoms should contact their primary care provider, the health department or urgent care. COVID-19 symptoms range from mild to severe and may appear 2-14 days after exposure, while flu symptoms appear 1-4 days after exposure.
Anyone can have mild to severe symptoms, but older adults and those with underlying medical conditions appear to be at higher risk for severe illness. The CDC said the virus spreads very easily, and risk of spreading the virus increases the closer and longer a person’s interaction with another is.
As of Monday, North Carolina had 399,362 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 and 5,560 deaths related to the virus since the beginning of March. More than 341,000 of those cases were presumed to be recovered.
As of Nov. 28, there were only 13 people who tested positive for the flu and one flu-associated death across the state this season, according to the N.C. Department of Health & Human Services.