COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Kootenai Health is pausing elective surgeries through Jan. 10 amid record numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations.
KREM reported on Monday, Dec. 10 that the hospital in Coeur d'Alene was treating a record 76 COVID-19 inpatients. Kootenai Health said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that it reached a new high of 87 inpatients earlier in the week.
As of Monday, Dec. 21, Kootenai Health is reporting 86 COVID-19 inpatients at the hospital, with 30 of them requiring critical care.
Kootenai Health wrote in its post that the hospital is also facing staffing challenges as COVID-19 continues to spread in North Idaho.
"The largest challenge in supporting the hospital is staffing. A team of administrators and physicians reviewed all options and determined that reducing the surgery schedule would allow the most staff members to be available for redeployment in other areas," the hospital wrote on Facebook.
The changes take effect at Kootenai Health on Thursday, Dec. 17. They do not affect screening and imagining procedures that occur in outpatient settings, including colonoscopies, mammograms, cardiac stress tests, ultrasounds, MRIs and similar procedures.
The family birth center and emergency department remain open and continue to provide care, Kootenai Health wrote on Facebook.
Kootenai Health said the community and hospital situation will be reviewed weekly to determine how and when elective surgeries can resume and in what capacity.
The hospital also barred visitors beginning Wednesday, Dec. 16, apart from limited situations.
The inpatient hospital visitor exceptions include:
- Pediatric patients ages 17 and under, including NICU patients, may be accompanied by two parents or guardians within a 24-hour period.
- Patients who are at the end of their lives may have four visitors in a 24-hour period, with two visitors at a time.
- Patients who request spiritual support may receive a visit from one such person in a 24-hour period. Members of the spiritual community are encouraged to provide virtual support.
- Family Birth Center mothers may have one support person, meaning a spouse, partner, a family member or friend and a certified doula.
- Non-COVID-19 patients who need a necessary caregiver may have one visit in a 24-hour period because of their mental or developmental status or for their disability, such as hearing loss or vision impairment.
- Non-COVID-19 patients who require a home caregiver may have one present for a training session.
The Panhandle Health District reported 292 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths among Idaho's five northern counties on Wednesday, Dec. 16. Eighty-four people were hospitalized in North Idaho as of that date.
