Vital to stay in place from coronavirus, Prisma hospital officials tell SC lawmakers
Top officials at South Carolina’s largest hospital system told South Carolina lawmakers Wednesday that the most important thing people can do in the current coronavirus epidemic is to shelter in place.
And, officials said, Prisma only has four health care workers who have had a “work exposure” to COVID-19. All four are in the Midlands and none are in the Upstate, where Prisma operates another set of hospitals.
The no-nonsense advice to shelter in place, by Prisma CEO Mark O’Halla, who called coronavirus “the healthcare challenge of a lifetime,” and top disease fighter Dr. Eric Ossmann, an emergency room doctor, was given during one of the first major hospital system’s briefings to lawmakers. It was a telephone conference call, and a lawmaker made it possible for State newspaper reporters to listen in.
Up to now, most information about the coronavirus in South Carolina has been released by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and Gov. Henry McMaster.
Although McMaster has so far rejected calls to issue a statewide stay in place executive order, Prisma’s top officials were adamant that residents staying home is the most important virus-fighting strategy there is, along with social distancing. They did not mention the governor. Some 30 other states have adopted versions of stay in place orders to fight the highly contagious coronavirus.
“We really need people to shelter in place,” Ossmann told Midlands lawmakers. “The best thing the community can do at this point is to socially distance and to shelter in place. That will prevent a significant surge of patients coming into the hospitals like what is occurring in the Northeast.”
So far, Prisma has diagnosed 319 people as testing positive for COVID-19 and done 5,325 completed tests, including 4,200 coronavirus tests at drive through sites, he said.
There are 2,891 negative results and 2,150 tests with pending results. It now takes about seven days to get the test results back, Ossmann said.
Prisma CEO Mark O’Halla told the lawmakers that Prisma had recently ordered two shipments totaling 40 ventilators.
“We found out the two shipments had been diverted to other areas of the country without our knowledge or approval,” O’Halla said. “Those kinds of things are happening on a daily basis, I guess the good news being we are not seeing the same challenges they are in other parts of the country.”
Currently, the system in both the Upstate and Midlands has 36 patients it considers “persons under investigation — meaning they potentially could have COVID-19 and are currently awaiting test results,” he said. “We have had 81 positive COVID-19 patients admitted.”
Prisma now has three drive-thru testing sites in Greenville, Columbia and Sumter. It has opened up a testing center in the Upstate for EMS personnel and first responders and is working on opening one in the Midlands.
One of the most challenging aspects of the pandemic is “the limitations on the number of people who can be tested,” Ossmann said. “We are hopeful by the end of the week we will have a significant increase in the number of tests we can do,” he said, adding Prisma hopes to soon get test results “in under a day.”
Prisma will be able to decrease the test turn-around time to one day from the current seven days because it is opening up in-house labs in Greenville and Columbia. Prisma had been sending the tests to an outside facility. Being able to determine negative results faster “will enable Prisma Health to preserve scarce protective equipment for use on positive patients,” a spokeswoman said after the conference.
Prisma needs PPE (personal protective equipment) and is working to get any and all donations and other efforts to provide N95 masks, surgical masks, face shields, gloves, goggles, thermometers and also ventilators.
“The safety of our team members is our number one priority — that is why we started sourcing PPE in the third week in January,” Ossmann said. “We certainly know our team members are anxious, and we are never going to put our team members in a harmful situation.”
On Wednesday, The State reported that four health care workers at Prisma’s Richland campus criticized hospital officials for not doing enough to protect its health care workers.
Beginning Thursday, Ossmann said, all Prisma health care and other workers who come into contact with non-COVID-19 patients will wear surgical masks. Those doing procedures on COVID-19 patients will wear the more effective N95 masks, he said.
Prisma is also letting its staff know about donated hotel rooms for those who are worried about going home and infecting their families.
Ossmann said he sees three phases of the looming pandemic hitting South Carolina:
▪ Phase One: The initial surge of cases will last to the end of April or early May. Prisma will focus on safety and increasing the number of beds for coronavirus patients. Prisma will place COVID-19 patients in similar units to preserve the precious personal protective equipment, such as masks, gowns, goggles and visors. The system will also work with the S.C. National Guard to set up alternate care sites.
“We are predicting that the peak number of cases will occur in approximately 3-4 weeks. But this picture is changing on a daily basis.”
▪ Phase Two: It will last from May to fall. The hospital will be working with health officials around the state to identify local coronavirus cases, isolate them, help them recover and make sure they don’t infect others.
▪ Phase Three: It will run from fall through winter. Prisma will be working on medical remedies, trials, treatments and “ongoing suppression.”
O’Halla said a major bright spot has been spontaneous shows of appreciation from community members outside hospitals. These include people writing chalked messages of thanks on sidewalks and people displaying placards of support.
“They took up residence in our parking lots to cheer on our team members as they were coming and going,” O’Halla said. “Any and all of those things are incredibly uplifting to our team members.”
Prisma had asked that lawmakers’ questions be sent ahead of time but did not take questions during the call, which concerned some legislators.
State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, questioned statements made by hospital administrators about the appropriate amount of protective gear.
“That was a great PR effort. I don’t know how valid it is. We don’t know because there’s no way to validate it,” Harpootlian said.
Harpootlian said he hopes every dollar possible is spent to make sure staff is not at risk and patients are cared for appropriately.
He said after the crisis, legislators need to examine Prisma efforts to purchase more hospitals.
“We were having issues before this crisis and when this crisis is resolved we have to take a look at Prisma,” Harpootlian said.
State Rep. Seth Rose, D-Richland, said he was impressed with the presentation from Ossman and was happy the doctor said sheltering in place and social distancing were key to slowing the spread of the virus, as the governor has received calls to issue a stay-at-home order.
Rose said the system officials gave good information and understood why they couldn’t take questions during the call as it probably would have taken too long.
“They’re taking time to update us and answer questions we submitted in such a time when time is precious for healthcare professionals,” Rose said.
But he still had questions.
“One of the things I didn’t hear, that I was hoping to have answered, was whether or not the (hospital’s planned) layoffs will be impactful as we deal with the peak time of this virus,” Rose said.
State Rep. Neal Collins, R-Pickens, said he found the call helpful knowing the hospital is preparing actions through the winter and system can be supported by people staying home.
But he did have some lingering questions.
“My unanswered concern is with current projections. How long will hospital bed capacity sustain us until we need to use these alternate sites?” Collins said. “I understand we don’t want to predict when we don’t know the anticipated surge but it would help in other preparedness outside the hospitals to know.”
Prisma has eight hospitals and more than 30,000 employees.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhat you should know about the coronavirus
The coronavirus is spreading in the United States. Officials are urging people to take precautions to avoid getting sick, and to avoid spreading the disease if they do contract it.
Click the drop-down icon on this card for more on the virus and what you should do to keep yourself and those around you healthy.
What is coronavirus?
Coronavirus is an infection of the respiratory system similar to the flu. Coronaviruses are a class of viruses that regularly cause illnesses among adults and children, but this outbreak has spawned a new disease called COVID-19, a particularly harsh respiratory condition that can lead to death.
Health officials believe COVID-19 spread from animals to humans somewhere in China. It spreads among humans by physical person-to-person contact, including via coughs. That’s why health officials urge sick individuals to avoid contact with other people.
For more information, visit the website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms are similar to the flu and include fever, coughing and shortness of breath.
How can I stop the spread of the coronavirus?
Wash your hands regularly with soap and water, and cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze.
If you develop symptoms similar to the coronavirus, you should seek medical attention. Stay home from work or school and avoid contact with others. It can take up to 14 days after coming into contact with the virus to develop symptoms.
COVID-19 is a new condition and there’s much about the disease we still don’t understand. For now, taking precautions is the best way to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 6:43 PM.
