Local ICU nurses worried about lack of beds due to COVID-19 surge

PITTSBURGH — The coronavirus continues to surge in Pennsylvania and across the country, and while the larger health systems in our area such as Allegheny Health Network and UPMC still have room, some smaller hospitals are running out of beds.

Nurses in the ICU on the COVID-19 floor said from the day they walked through the front doors at Excela Westmoreland Hospital and treated their first patients, they changed as people.

“To fill up on the unit, to get all these patients, it’s really, really hard,” said James Wirt, an ICU nurse at Excela. “The one thing it took me awhile to realize is once you fill up with all these patients, the people that need other sources of care aren’t getting it. Somebody comes in with a heart attack (and) you don’t have a bed.”

There are enough ventilators at Excela, but some patients are being transferred to different hospitals. Vendors hired to rework the ventilation inside COVID-19 rooms are in short supply, and wooden boards and buckets are visible from the outside.

Related >> Here are links to resources you may need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wirt says the pandemic is robbing people of the dignity of saying goodbye to their loved ones.

“You have to facetime the family. You have to talk to the family. When you have two patients, you can’t be in their room. COVID or not, they shouldn’t pass away alone,” said Wirt.

Wirt and the other frontline workers at Excela are bracing for what lies ahead.

“We’re not seeing Thanksgiving yet. We’re not going to see Christmas for another month or two. I think we should rethink everything we do. The simplest act of kindness you can do right now is wear a mask,” Wirt said.

At Heritage Valley Beaver and Sewickley, surge plans are in place:

• Post-anesthesia units are ready to be converted to coronavirus units if needed.
• Staff are picking up extra shifts to handle the demand.
• Surgery schedules could be adjusted if the beds are needed for COVID-19 patients.

Gov. Tom Wolf reported a sobering statistic during his press conference Monday afternoon, saying more nurses have died from the coronavirus than World War I.

Regarding bed space and transfer concerns, Excela told Channel 11 there are instances when they move patients from one hospital to another within their health system to provide the best care possible as well as resource utilization. This is not something Excela said is unique to COVID-19.

Also, Excela is implementing negative air capabilities in its treatment of coronavirus patients, and that process is ongoing. On the exterior, you can see a reflection of a transition of rooms, winterizing them and replacing temporary venting with duct work.

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Cox Media Group