photo by: LMH Health

LMH Health, 325 Maine St., is pictured in May 2021.

With the record surge in coronavirus cases in Douglas County, including seven deaths over the past week, the strain on local health care workers has become increasingly acute.

Staff members at LMH Health have been stretched thin due to the caseload, the high number of employee quarantines and COVID cases diverting resources from other units, on top of growing fatigue and mental strain due to the sheer length of time the pandemic has raged on.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 17 COVID inpatients were being treated at LMH — 16 active and one recovering — across the ICU and two other units, said Traci Hoopingarner, senior vice president of clinical care and chief nursing officer for LMH Health. Also as of Tuesday, 87 of LMH Health’s roughly 1,800 staff members were out as either positive cases, “persons under investigation” (PUI) — those who are symptomatic and awaiting test results — or close contacts.

Meanwhile, Douglas County’s rolling case average — according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health’s updated COVID data from the start of this week — stands at an all-time high of 214.64, along with a 19.3% positivity rate.

“The reason why I highlight what those numbers mean is just because of the concern of how rapidly this situation has been changing in our county and across the country,” Hoopingarner said. “(The numbers are) higher than we’ve ever had them, and there’s more and more people that are vaccinated that are becoming infected with COVID, and there’s a variety of symptoms, so it is difficult. And we still have (the delta and omicron variants), we have both in Douglas County, so there’s also that concern, when you have both variants.”

Additional data released by LMH Health Tuesday afternoon notes that Douglas County has seen seven COVID-related deaths in the past week, with three of those deaths taking place during the past weekend.

The influx of COVID cases has dramatically increased the pressure on local health care professionals, Hoopingarner said. The biggest difference between the first and second years of the pandemic, she said, is that LMH Health has seen more staff members testing positive for the virus.

That changes how LMH Health approaches staffing each day, she said.

“How we staff every day, when we have more people out, it does affect how we look at it,” Hoopingarner said. “Every day, or more often than that, I’m looking at how many people are out. How are we going to staff to make sure our patients are getting the best care? I’m really proud of how well we have done with taking care of our patients, that we have provided the safest care that we can and that we’ve had the adequate amount of staff to take care of any of our patients.”

The hospital has seen more severe COVID hospitalizations recently, especially longer-term cases in the intensive care unit that require one-on-one care, and Hoopingarner said that has added to the strain on employee resources.

LMH Health has mitigated that challenge somewhat thanks to a requirement that staff members be vaccinated. Additionally, staff members were cross-trained to work in more than one nursing area prior to the pandemic, Hoopingarner said, and that allows nursing staff to pivot to where they are needed.

Hoopingarner said it has also been helpful that there is so much willingness among staff to give up their time to help when needed.That’s something the public isn’t always aware of, along with other underreported realities, like the sheer volume of people who come to a hospital like LMH Health seeking treatment for mild COVID symptoms, or simply seeking a COVID test — a drastically higher number than those receiving inpatient care.

A lot of the strain among LMH Health employees, though, stems from how long the pandemic has gone on, Hoopingarner said. There’s a palpable “weariness” from the nearly two-year pandemic.

“It’s a marathon that you can’t see the end of,” Hoopingarner said. “I haven’t ran for a while, but I used to run, and you could make it because you could see the end. Like, ‘I only have another mile, I can do this.’ So it’s hard when you can’t see the end of something … and I think that’s not just for health care, for the community and everyone there’s a weariness involved.”

An added element of psychological stress for health care workers is that the length of stay for a COVID patient is typically longer than that of a non-COVID patient. When nurses are absent in quarantine and come back to see a patient still in poor condition in the ICU who was there when they first left, she said, it can be tough to handle.

LMH Health’s human resources department has been offering resources to employees who need someone to talk to about their stress, and employees have been making use of those resources, Hoopingarner said.

Hoopingarner suggested that the community could help lighten the burden on local health care workers. She recommends connecting with a primary care provider about testing options, or opting for teleheath services when appropriate. That can help keep individuals who are not experiencing serious symptoms and who may just need testing from being in more direct contact with individuals visiting the emergency room who are positive cases.

Vaccinations — both the first and second dose and a booster shot — are crucial to protect people from more drastic symptoms and hospitalization, Hoopingarner said.

As of Monday, the health department reported that 71,953 eligible people in the county, or 63%, had completed the two-shot series, and 33,324, or 31%, had been boosted.

She hopes to see more Douglas County residents get vaccinated in the near future. The majority of hospitalized patients tend to be unvaccinated, Hoopingarner said, and are more severely affected by their symptoms.

The community’s support will be crucial to see things through, Hoopingarner said. The support LMH Health is looking for now is a simple request: Do your best to stay healthy.

“I think what’s important now is to support us in a different way — support us by keeping safe,” Hoopingarner said. “Wear your mask, get vaccinated, that is what we need now. Everyone can do that. … We need your support more than ever today, by keeping yourself safe.”

Detailed information about COVID testing, vaccination and LMH Health visitor details and hours is available at https://www.lmh.org.