With ICU full, Haywood Regional diverts out-of-county patients coming in ambulances

Asheville Citizen Times

Not one of Haywood Regional Medical Center's 12 intensive care unit beds is currently available, and half are occupied by COVID-19 patients, hospital spokesperson Lindsey Solomon told the Citizen Times Sept. 9.

And because roughly six of the hospital’s 25 COVID-19 inpatients are in the ICU, the hospital has been diverting some critical care patients.

“As a result, we are currently on critical care diversion, meaning those with critical or intensive care needs will be stabilized and transferred in accordance with Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act requirements,” Solomon said.

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Additionally, the hospital is not accepting any ambulance transports carrying non-Haywood County residents. Those patients are being diverted to other hospitals in the region depending on availability.

"Importantly, these status updates are exclusively intended for EMS personnel," Solomon said. "We implore our patients: do not delay emergency care."

“Community members experiencing a medical emergency should still call 911 or go to their nearest emergency room.”

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Haywood County is experiencing a drastic rise in COVID-19. On Aug. 31, Haywood County spokesperson Allison Richmond reported 319 coronavirus cases within the previous seven days. That's the largest case count since Jan. 20-26.

Jamie Kilpatrick, a registered nurse who works with COVID-19 patients every shift in the ICU, was the second person in line to get Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in Western North Carolina.

At least seven people died of the virus in Haywood in August, according to Richmond.

While Haywood Regional is the only confirmed hospital to be at full ICU capacity, other Western North Carolina hospitals are seeing an enormous surge in COVID-19 patients.

The region’s largest facility, Mission Hospital, had 127 COVID-19 patients as of 5 a.m. Sept. 9, according to Mission Health spokesperson Nancy Lindell. That’s 14 more than Mission reported a week earlier when 113 were hospitalized for the virus Sept. 2.

Mission’s hospitalizations reported Sept. 9 are catching up to numbers at the height of the pandemic. On Jan. 4, Mission saw its highest number of COVID-19 patients with 140, Lindell said.

“The delta variant is much more contagious, and therefore the pace at which our inpatient COVID population has increased has been rapid,” Lindell said.

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Deaths are also climbing at Mission Hospital. On Sept. 1, a Mission Health source said 10 people had died from COVID in a 48-hour period.

According to death certificates obtained by the Citizen Times, nearly 50 people, including a 31 year-old pregnant woman, died from the virus at Mission in August.

Shelby Harris is a reporter covering education and other topics. She can be reached at sharris@citizentimes.com or on Twitter @_shelbyharris.