YRMC seeing fewer COVID-19 hospitalizations
Could this signal a turn of the pandemic tide? News 11's Adonis Albright has the answer
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC) said it has been admitting fewer COVID-19 patients. As a result, the hospital moved to change its visitation rules on Monday.
“That does a couple things for us. It really simplifies not having a lot of volume coming through the door, because again we still want to be very mindful of the fact that COVID is still with us in our community and we don’t want to bring anything in or put staff or patients at risk. But it also gives that ability for that healing environment of having someone who is really invested in your care there with you", said Erin Brandt, the Director of Patient Experience at YRMC.
Related: YRMC eases visitor restrictions
On Tuesday, Yuma County reported 13 new cases of COVID-19, with 4 new deaths. YRMC reported 37 hospitalizations of coronavirus patients. The numbers are a far cry from where they were during the holiday surge.
But does the news signal a possible shift in the pandemic that has now taken the lives of more than 500,000 Americans?
According to Dr. Bharat Magu, the Chief Medical Officer at YRMC, he expects this trend to continue.
“We expect those numbers to decline through the summer.”
YRMC currently only has one COVID unit, with less than 20 patients. But even that may be close to winding down.
“If our numbers can drop below 15 consistently for about a week, we have enough negative pressure rooms to basically put those patients in a negative pressure room and we can close that COVID unit", said Deb Aders, the Chief Nursing Officer at YRMC.
As to the reason why there's less cases, there are several things to consider, according to Dr. Magu. In part, this is due to the vaccine rollout in the desert southwest.
“Almost all studies show that protecting the high-risk groups have the highest impact.”
Even more promising news, YRMC also told News 11 that progress toward opening up the 24/7 mass vaccination clinic at the Yuma Civic Center is going well, and the hospital expects the site to open before the end of this month.
