Graphic by Russ Pankonin, Source: Nebraska Emergency Management Agency
As of Tuesday afternoon, March 24, a total of 61 cases have been confirmed in Nebraska in 13 different counties spread throughout the state. Citizens are being asked to limit groups, wash hands often and practice social distancing.
Courtesy photo
Chase County Community Hospital has a regular supply of items like masks and gloves.
Hospital experiencing no supply shortages for now
While officials nationwide are worried about a shortage of ventilators that may be needed by coronavirus patients, that doesn’t appear to be a problem in this area.
Chase County Community Hospital CEO Abby Cyboron said while the facility has only one ventilator, “Typically, if we had a patient that was on a ventilator, we wouldn’t be keeping them anyway. They would be going to a hospital with a higher level of care.”
That means transferring the patient to hospitals in Omaha, North Platte, Kearney or Denver, Cyboron said.
“It’s whoever you can get that acceptance from. That happens on a regular basis all the time.”
The only problem would be if those hospitals got a heavy influx of patients and did not have enough beds to take one from the Chase County hospital.
There also have been concerns nationwide about shortages of masks and gloves for health care workers, but again, that hasn’t become a problem here yet.
“We have all of our regular supply,” Cyboron said. “Vendors are heavily monitoring that supply. If you have a vendor that you order supplies from, you have a history with them; they are allowing you to maintain whatever you’ve ordered from them and that’s your allocation. But if you need a major supply, you have to get on a list.”
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