SAN ANTONIO — Local hospitals are seeing an uptick in coronavirus patients as the Delta variant exacerbates a surge in infections across the state.
The increase in coronavirus cases has kept frontline healthcare workers extra busy while retaining staff continues to be a challenge.
“It’s been very trying for the nurses. They’re tired. They’ve been going through this for over 12 months,” said Tommye Austin, University Health System’s chief nurse executive.
Austin noted nurses are opting in for other opportunities outside of University Hospital.
“I’m seeing some of my great nurses leave our facility because of dollars. One of the things we’re working really hard to retain the staff that we have and create an environment where they want to stay,” Austin said.
It’s amounting to a fight for labor during a battle to save lives.
“Because of competition in the market and also all these travel assignments that are paying nurses exorbitant amounts of money and so it’s been a very trying time for nursing,” Austin said.
Hospital bed capacity is another hurdle faced by healthcare facilities such as University Hospital.
Austin’s observed new patients in their 20s experiencing severe respiratory illnesses caused by the coronavirus.
The spike in cases has also impacted nursing staff who have been fully vaccinated, a sign of how aggressive the Delta strain is.
“Unfortunately, understanding viruses and the fact people were refusing to get vaccinated, I expected to see this surge, and which is very sad.”
Austin urges the unvaccinated to get immunizations to prevent further spread. She also supports the idea of requiring masks in schools, as proposed by city and county leaders, to avoid a potential outbreak.
But Gov. Greg Abbott this week expressed opposition to any idea of a mask mandate, asserting that face coverings and masks are a personal responsibility at this point.
Methodist Healthcare is also enduring challenges amid the rising surge of the Delta variant, according to Chief Nurse Executive Jane McCurley. An emailed statement from McCurley reads, “Currently, our hospitals are at 94% capacity with 304 COVID-19 patients. We’re not in this alone. As admissions continue to rise, all healthcare systems in our community are experiencing the same staffing challenges and concerns.
"We are actively discussing ways to shift resources and streamline staffing to care for both COVID and non-COVID patients, but candidly, we need additional support from the Texas Department of State Health Services. Additional nurses are required to provide care to the increasing number of patients.
"The community can help keep our facilities, particularly our ERs, from becoming overwhelmed by visiting urgent care clinics, such as CareNow clinics, for COVID-19 testing. We also implore everyone to get vaccinated to help us end this pandemic."