With the new Omicron variant creating an explosion of new cases nationally, officials at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital said Wednesday that four people were hospitalized there — the most since the pandemic began.
Two of the patients are in the intensive care unit in serious condition, one is in fair condition and one is in good condition, Claire Seguin, the hospital’s chief nursing and operations officer, said at a media briefing. Earlier this month, one pediatric patient was transferred off-Island in serious condition as a result of the virus, she added.
“This is the highest. I think the most we had before were two inpatients at a time, maybe very briefly with three,” Ms. Seguin said.
Hospital CEO Denise Schepici said the hospital has a surge plan should it become overwhelmed with virus-related admissions. It is not at that point, she said.
“We’ll be ready for it. We’re concerned overall about the Omicron spread and the likelihood for hospitalizations. We’ll be prepared, but it’s always a concern,” she said.
At the briefing, Ms. Seguin and Ms. Schepici addressed the hospital’s response to the rising number of cases on the Island. In their weekly update Monday, the Martha’s Vineyard boards of health reported 112 new cases for the week ending Saturday, Dec. 18. Of those, 64 patients were fully vaccinated, 34 were unvaccinated and 14 were unknown. Reports for Sunday through Wednesday added another 35 confirmed cases. New cases are now at their highest level of the year.
With high demand for Covid vaccines and boosters on the Island, hospital officials pledged to expand appointments after the holidays. The hospital adds new appointment slots as they become available at covidvaccine.massgeneralbrigham.org/Island.
“We will continue to add new appointments whenever possible,” Ms. Schepici said. “I want to reinforce, we are firing on all cylinders. We have vaccines, they’re not scarce, we have to [administer] them according to staff and available appointments. Just make your appointment, we’ll be sure we get you a shot.”
The hospital will keep its drive-up vaccination tents open until 7 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays. The hospital will also administer vaccines “some Saturdays when we have the staff,” Ms. Schepici said. Vaccine appointments will be available on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is Jan. 17.
The hospital has administered 4,554 boosters as of Tuesday, according to Ms. Seguin. About 80 per cent of Islanders have received two doses of the vaccine.
“We’re using all available resources to get the vaccines into people’s arms while we also keep our clinical services available for all other services to our patients,” Ms. Schepici said.
On Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker addressed the rising case count in Massachusetts, recommending people wear masks indoors, activating the National Guard to assist short-staffed hospitals and directing hospitals to postpone or cancel nonessential elective procedures by Dec. 27. The six Island towns already have an indoor mask mandate.
Ms. Schepici said the hospital will follow the governor’s surgery recommendation, but has not had to make adjustments because it does few surgeries where patients require admittance post-operation.
“Right now we have beds. We do mostly outpatient surgeries, [so] we haven’t had to reduce surgeries that don’t impact our bed situation,”she said.
Ms. Seguin said Island Health Care, the Island boards of health and the hospital are partnering to provide free at-home test kits. People who test positive through an at-home test are advised to quarantine and report their result at rapidtest.mv.org.
“This is the only way we’re going to be able to keep up with the testing demands,” Ms. Seguin said. “If they have a positive at home, I feel really comfortable . . . that the accuracy rate of those tests would say that you are in fact positive.”
Ms. Schepici also reminded people to get their flu shot.
“With more opportunity to be around others, especially around the holidays, the flu shot is vitally important as well. Please know that we’re using every resource available to take care of our community,” she said. “What we ask of you is to get vaccinated, wear your mask and be careful during the upcoming two weeks. I can’t afford to have any of my staff get sick and I don’t want to see any of you get sick.”
