By Josh Margolis
HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – Dr. Kevin Harada, Chief of Staff at Northern Montana Hospital, spoke with New Media Broadcasters on Thursday afternoon to discuss how they are handling the latest surge in COVID-19 cases.
“We’ve been seeing larger traffic at our flu clinic. We’ve also been seeing larger traffic on the inpatient side and in the emergency department. We’ve been identifying more people who are candidates for the monoclonal antibody therapy Regeneron. We’ve been trying to ramp that service back up, which we hadn’t really used all summer since our numbers were down. So we’ve seen an uptick in almost all of our measures.”
Harada says that the spread of the delta variant has led to more breakthrough infections in those that are not vaccinated, but those cases have been less severe than those in people who are unvaccinated.
“We’ve definitely seen the vaccines work. Meaning even the people who are having breakthrough infections, they have milder courses. And we’re essentially not seeing people hospitalized if they are vaccinated. Yes, they may get a little bit sick, but the vaccines are definitely working.”
Harada says this surge was entirely preventable, and could still be mitigated if more local residents receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We have vaccines that have been efficacious and still are, and it’s still preventing hospitalizations, it’s still preventing death. And we’re seeing the majority of, or almost all, people being hospitalized are unvaccinated. And I think that’s what some of the morale issues with regards to the healthcare system is what we’re seeing is preventable, but we’re just seeing so much hesitancy with regards to the vaccines. So the blanket message would be: go get vaccinated if you’re eligible.”
Harada says that they are currently able to handle the increased patient load, but that could change if the surge continues.
“Pretty much across the board, almost all hospital systems are dealing with staffing shortages…Moving into the fall, I think morale across the healthcare system is quite low, and a lot of people are relying on traveling staff, whether that be nurses or lobotomists. And sometimes you’re just having trouble getting enough staff. Some of the capacity issues that hospitals are seeing is ‘do you have enough beds that are staffed?’ Not necessarily the physical beds, but do you have the staff to take care of those beds.”
Harada also responded to Hill County moving forward with the elimination of quarantine orders, saying it could lead to an increase in COVID cases.
“Absolutely, it concerns us. Kind of the consensus across the medical field is that we’re being kicked while we’re down. Not only are we being asked to take care of these surges that are coming, which we’re happy to do, but we’re losing one of our tools. So we’re concerned about if nobody is being contact traced, we don’t know who is coming through our doors, meaning from a visitation standpoint. Or staff members, employees. I’m sure other businesses around town and the state are worried about the fact that they will essentially have no idea who is in contact or who is high risk. And I think it, unfortunately, probably takes away one of our biggest combats or weapons we have against COVID.”
