Saint Francis Doctors Concerned By Drastic Increase In COVID-19 Hospitalizations

Doctors at Saint Francis said they’re having to treat some patients in waiting rooms, as the hospital sees a drastic increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations.

St. Francis said 237 people are in this hospital right now with COVID-19. That number is much higher than what it was this time last year.

Monday afternoon, St. Francis President and CEO Dr. Cliff Robertson provided an update on the virus within their hospital system. He said they’ve seen a nearly 14% increase in new cases over the last week.

One thing they’ve noticed is younger Oklahomans are being hospitalized, and the average age is now 56 years old. 

Over the weekend, they had two younger patients who had COVID-19 die. One was a pregnant woman, the other was a 40-year-old man.

Robertson said 90 percent of their hospitalizations are unvaccinated people. 

Dr. Ryan Parker, the Chief of Emergency Medicine, said her doctors have not had a break from this virus in 18 months.

“For us, this has been a slow-rolling mass casualty event and it’s lasted for 18 months,” said Parker. “We know that the first principle of disaster medicine is containment. And this is something we have not done a good job of in our communities.”

Parker said they’re also facing a nursing staffing shortage. Now, they’re looking for contract labor for some positions.