The state health department reports all but four ICU beds are in use at Acadiana region hospitals as COVID numbers continue to spike. Dr. Henry Kaufman, Chief Medical Officer at Our Lady of Lourdes in Lafayette, is extremely concerned.
“The hospital’s seen a tripling in the number of COVIDs that we’re housing within the last couple of weeks and given those numbers, especially those numbers from our region, we’re very worried about the direction in which this is heading,” said Kaufman.
Kaufman said the hospital is licensed for a specific number of beds with supporting staff, but they can expand into other areas of the hospital if needed. As for staffing Kaufman said medical professionals have one of the highest burn-out rates and the ongoing pandemic has been taxing.
“It’s emotionally tense, it’s physically demanding. These people are taking care of these patients in the hospital, not only are they doing a difficult job, but they are putting their own lives and own health at risk while they do it,” said Kaufman.
Kaufman said while the majority of those who contract COVID will not require extensive care it’s when a surge breaks out hospitalizations go up.
“Even that small percentage of people that are going to become significantly ill and need to access higher levels of health care are going to tax and burden the system to the point where it could become a crisis,” said Kaufman.
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