MUNCIE, Ind. —Since re-opening elective services to the public after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital has been battling the virus and treating the community's other medical needs.
With a surge in COVID-19 cases and an increase in emergency room needs, the hospital now is operating near full capacity.
In mid-May, Jeff Bird, president of IU Health’s East Central Region, told The Star Press Ball Memorial was focusing on its “next” normal, re-opening parts of the hospital in measured ways.
The plan included a two-week period during which he hoped to get up to 25% of usual volume in urgent or elective procedures, followed by an increase by 18 or 20% in inpatient, outpatient and office visits every two weeks.
Now, as September draws to a close, officials say the hospital is close to full capacity, with inpatient, office visits and procedural volumes returning to pre-COVID levels.
“We have an amazing health care team in this community that continued to provide excellent care in a medical environment that changed almost by the hour," said Dr. Ryan Johnston, associate chief medical officer for BMH. “We are settling in now, refining our processes and preparing for the longer term.”
Johnston told The Star Press on Sept. 16 the hospital is experiencing a large volume of patients with a high enough medical need to require care in the hospital setting.
While Ball Memorial experienced a backlog of patients due to not being able to perform certain procedures during the early stages of the pandemic, Johnston said the hospital worked through the backlog within two to four weeks.
The hospital is a finite resource, and when demand is high, Johnston said, it might translate to longer waiting times to receive care.
"Our facility has the ability to accommodate over 300 patients requiring various levels of inpatient care," Johnston said. "While we have experienced an increased volume of patients over the last few weeks resulting in all of our hospital beds being utilized and sometimes even exceeding our capacity, this is not uncommon for us even preceding our COVID pandemic crisis."
The hospital also has experienced a surge in COVID-19-related hospitalizations within the last two weeks. Currently, the hospital still has a “respiratory pod” in the emergency department where anyone suspected of potentially having COVID-19 is placed.
Two weeks ago, the hospital had more than 25 COVID-19 patients, compared to high teens low 20s during early spring.
“At one point this week, our hospital had more admitted COVID patients than at any other point during the pandemic,” Johnston said on Sept. 16. “We are also seeing a high volume of non-COVID-related illness, which is not usual for us during this time of year, historically.”
The IU Health system typically includes both COVID-19 positive patients and patients under investigation (PUI) as a combined number. PUIs have to be treated as COVID-positive until it is ruled out, which can strain capacity given that requires isolation rooms, Johnston said.
In the past two weeks, Ball Memorial has experienced about 50 combined COVID-positive and PUI patients, which is up from where the hospital had been over the majority of the summer when that number was averaging around 20 to 25 patients.
Returning to 'normal'
At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, physical therapist Nicole Powell found herself taking on new roles at IU Health BMH.
In late March, she moved from the Outpatient Rehabilitation Services on Bethel Avenue to the hospital since the offsite clinic where she typically worked was closed to all but essential patients.
Since Ball Memorial was no longer taking volunteers or students due to the virus, various positions were now open and being offered to employees within the healthcare system.
For about four months, Powell took on various roles, including screening patients for the virus in the hospital's cancer center, becoming a "cuddler" in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and helping nurses when babies would become fussy.
She also helped nutrition services by taking meals to patients and helping prepare food. At one point, she was checking scrubs in and out to hospital employees.
By mid-June Powell was able to return to her physical therapy job as the hospital began reopening services to the public. Being able to try different roles gave her a newfound respect for the hospital workers.
"For me, it was kind of a nice break, to breakup your normal routine and to be able to go venture around different areas of the hospital and meet new people that you never would have been able to meet," Powell said.
Things were slow at first, but by July 4, Powell said the outpatient clinic was back up to full-capacity.
Powell wasn't the only one switching up roles during the pandemic. Johnston told The Star Press that most of the staff has returned to their regular positions by early July. Meanwhile, new positions added because of the pandemic, such as screening stations, are here to stay.
"I have been very proud of our team’s flexibility and ability to adapt through this," Johnston said. "I think this challenge has given us the ability to demonstrate our commitment to our IU Health values of team, compassion, purpose and excellence.
When to use the Emergency Department
As beds continue to be filled, hospital officials are recommending residents only use the emergency department in a true emergency, including chest pain, stroke symptoms, shortness of breath or other emergent symptoms.
The hospital also lists broken bones, wounds that need stitches, head injuries, severe cold or flu symptoms, loss of consciousness, burns and severe abdominal pain as reasons to use the department.
For non-emergencies, including sprains, urinary tract infections, rashes and common illnesses, Johnston suggested patients visit their healthcare provider to discuss treatment.
"It is important that we make sure that we have the resources available to care for our sickest patients in the community when they need it," Johnston said.
During the height of the early months of the pandemic, all IU Health hospitals put strict limitations on visitors. Those limits have been lifted now, with controlled visitation allowed. However, Johnston said there are still restrictions for those who are suspected to have the virus. The hospital provides masks, which are to be worn by visitors at all times.
To avoid over-crowding at the hospital, Johnston said the community should continue to wear masks in public, maintain social distancing, practice frequent and thorough hand hygiene and try to avoid high-risk situations all together.
With the upcoming influenza season, Johnston said it will become even more challenging with overlapping symptoms and the possibility of combined infections with COVID-19 and influenza. While he recommends a flu shot every year, this year is crucial.
“This is not over,” Johnston said. “I know that most of us wish that we could just return to our normal pre-COVID lives, but we should encourage our community to remain vigilant.”
Charlotte Stefanski is a reporter at the Star Press. Contact her at 765-283-5543, cstefanski@muncie.gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @CharStefanski.
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