Staff Reports
As surge plans are activated at Schneck Medical Center in response to rising COVID cases, some surgeries that require an inpatient admission after surgery, but can be safely postponed, may be delayed.
The postponements come in response to the surge in cases of COVID-19 and subsequent hospitalizations in our communities, according to a news release from Seymour hospital.
These postponements will allow Schneck to conserve intensive medicine resources, such hospital beds and supplies. Additionally, this will allow for reassignment of caregivers to treat COVID-19 and non-COVID hospitalized patients.
Any patient affected by this will be directly notified and given further instructions.
“This is part of Schneck’s surge plan that was developed months ago at the beginning of the pandemic. We will reassess the situation daily to determine if we need to extend or expand postponements,” said Dr. Eric Fish, president and CEO of Schneck. “This decision was made in the interest of community safety. It is a necessary and appropriate step given the sharp spike in hospitalizations for patients with COVID-19.”
Any postponed procedures will be rescheduled after the surge subsides. Schneck will continue to provide care for urgent situations and emergency patients, according to Ryan Stone, DO, Schneck’s chief medical Officer.
“Our intent is to continue to provide surgical care where possible and make adjustments as needed as our resources get stressed,” said Stone. “As we see a drop in COVID-19 hospitalizations, we will be able conserve resources, ease staffing concerns and resume our standard surgical operations.”
Schneck is asking the community to mask up, social distance, wash hands and stay home when they are sick to help slow the spread of disease.
“This is as dire a situation as we have seen since this pandemic began, Fish said. “We urge anyone who has not been vaccinated to do so to keep yourself, your family, and your neighbors safe and to reduce the risk of hospitalization.”
The Indiana State Department of Health announced Tuesday that 6,157 Jackson County residents have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of 16 from Monday’s total.
The positivity rate for Jackson County is at 16.6%, a 1.2% increase from Monday’s 15.4%, according to the department’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The rate is determined by a seven-day moving average with a six-day lag to give time to receive comprehensive results. The current positivity rate for the county would be for Aug. 25 to 31.
Jackson County is currently classified as a level 2.5 county and an orange level threat.
No new deaths attributed to COVID-19 were reported in Jackson County on Tuesday, leaving the county’s death toll at 79.
There have been 71,678 COVID tests administered to 22,400 individuals in the county since March 18, 2020, an increase of 419 from Monday’s total.
The latest results are as of 11:59 p.m. Monday. The coronavirus dashboard is updated at noon daily.
Also Tuesday, the state’s COVID-19 vaccination dashboard reported 18,654 or 40.1% of 46,428 Jackson County residents have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 19,030 or 40.9% of county residents have been fully vaccinated.
Since Dec. 14, 3,156,416 Hoosiers have received their first dose, while 3,135,727 are fully vaccinated.
On Tuesday, 2,863 additional Hoosiers across the state were diagnosed with COVID-19 through testing at the ISDH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and private laboratories.
This brings the total number of Hoosiers known to have had the novel coronavirus to 886,461 following corrections to the previous day’s total.
The state’s total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 is 14,172 with no new deaths reported Tuesday.
For the state, a total of 12,598,831 tests have been administered, an increase of 30,376 from Monday.