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I spent time inside a South LA hospital with the highest rate of Covid patients in the region – the epicenter of the epicenter of America's out-of-control pandemic.
Here's what I saw + heard from frontline staff battling the catastrophic surge. THREAD: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/12/the-horror-stories-are-countless-inside-the-la-hospital-at-the-center-of-the-covid-crisis
Here's what I saw + heard from frontline staff battling the catastrophic surge. THREAD: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/12/the-horror-stories-are-countless-inside-the-la-hospital-at-the-center-of-the-covid-crisis
Entire families are hospitalized – husbands and wives, twin brothers in their 20s, parents and their children. Anahiz Correa, ICU nurse manager, recounted a mother and son who ended up dying in the same ICU room weeks apart. "The patients are much sicker and it’s not clear why.”
Martin Luther King Jr Community Hospital has put beds in an old gift shop, which has a small sign on the door indicating “patient care in progress.” The chapel around the corner is filled with gurneys. Patients are treated in the waiting room + doubled up in spaces meant for one.
Outside the building, there are five triage tents for intake. The hospital was so full at the end of December, it had to formally declare an “internal disaster," which temporarily diverted ambulances from showing up – “the first time ever in our history”.
The hospital once had separate wings for Covid. Now, positive patients are on every floor. Araceli Martinez, the charge nurse on the fourth floor, explained that her floor had originally been “clean” (no Covid), but now had 29 positives: “It’s physically and emotionally draining"
Secelia Dean, a supervisor who helps coordinate staffing, said that the hospital would typically hire travel nurses to handle a surge in patients, but was struggling now: “They are in demand everywhere because of this pandemic – Texas, Atlanta, everywhere. We are outnumbered.”
CEO Dr. Elaine Batchlor said the hospital keeps expanding capacity + bringing in more patients, while burned out staff are taking leaves of absence.
“We add more beds, we add more patients, and the same number of people continue to take care of them.”
“We add more beds, we add more patients, and the same number of people continue to take care of them.”
It's a daily scramble to find oxygen. Jonathan Westall, a VP, said patients would typically be plugged into wall oxygen in rooms, but now that they're in tents, hallways + makeshift quarters, the hospital needs more “grab + go” tanks (normally just used for brief transportation).
“We have three times the number of patients we normally would have and most patients now have respiratory distress,” Jonathan Westall said, noting that local vendors were not prepared for this kind of surge.
And the tanks have to be refilled:
And the tanks have to be refilled:
“I’m cold-calling everybody , making 100 calls a day … or I’ll put a guy in a truck with 50 tanks + send him to a plant and tell him to stand outside.”
At times, it's down to the wire: “We’re going to get 50 at 4pm, or we’re not going to get any + I’m going to run out at 8pm.”
At times, it's down to the wire: “We’re going to get 50 at 4pm, or we’re not going to get any + I’m going to run out at 8pm.”
When the morgue became full, the hospital was forced to bring in a refrigerated truck, which then began filling up, too: “Now we’re putting shelves in it, so we can fit more bodies," Dr. Batchlor told me in our first interview.
A week later, MLKCH needed a whole new truck.
A week later, MLKCH needed a whole new truck.
The hospital hasn't had to ration care yet, but if it does, it would be like a “battlefield during war," Dr. Batchlor said: “Normally, you’re maximizing care for each individual patient. But when you move into a crisis situation, you’re trying to maximize it for the whole group.”
MLKCH is a small 131-bed community hospital that on some days in recent weeks has seen proportionally more Covid patients than any of the nearly 50 other hospitals in the LA area. Some days, it is treating nearly double the number of patients for which it normally has capacity.
MLKCH reminds us that the the toll of the pandemic is not equal. Most of its Covid patients are Latinos. They are essential workers who can’t escape the virus, who have had no option but to continue dangerous jobs during the worst phase of the pandemic yet. And their loved ones.
Only 4% of MLKCH’s patients have private health insurance, and because of low reimbursement rates, South LA has an overall shortage of 1,200 doctors. Localsend up at MLKCH at the end stages of untreated chronic illnesses. The ED in normal times is one of the busiest in the region
“The hospital is surrounded by a sea of chronic illness and lack of access to healthcare” -Dr. Batchlor. In normal times, amputations + wound care for diabetics are the most common procedures. South LA has higher rates of heart attacks, strokes + overall mortality than rest of LA
In Cedars-Sinai, Covid patients have made up roughly 23% of its capacity in recent weeks.
Twenty miles away at MLKCH, it’s 97%.
Twenty miles away at MLKCH, it’s 97%.
“Covid is preying on essential workers + many don’t have insurance… These are the bus drivers, they stock the grocery shelves, they are cleaners. So they’ve continued to be exposed,” Dr. Batchlor said “If one family member gets sick, the rest of the family is likely to get sick"
The Covid patients are sicker, younger than the average patients, and harder to keep alive.
“The horror stories are countless,” said Dr. Jason Prasso, an ICU doctor. “We try and stave off complications, but there’s nothing I can do to reverse the course of the virus.”
“The horror stories are countless,” said Dr. Jason Prasso, an ICU doctor. “We try and stave off complications, but there’s nothing I can do to reverse the course of the virus.”
“I don’t even know what to say anymore. Everyone says, ‘Continue social distancing + wear your mask,’ but at this point the situation's so dire," said Anahiz Correa.
Her advice now: families should have tough conversations about their wishes if they become incapacitated or die
Her advice now: families should have tough conversations about their wishes if they become incapacitated or die
The hospital is used to dealing with crises in normal times, and the staff have kept the operation running smoothly, all things considered. They've found creative ways to do more with less. But there are limits of physical space + staff etc, and the numbers are only getting worse
Stories like this should remind people to stay home, mask up, etc. But the reality is the people suffering in this horrific wave are essential workers who can't protect themselves, their families, frontline workers, elderly + other vulnerable people who simply can't escape Covid.
