Kansas lawmakers to debate COVID staffing emergency bill as one hospital leader checks morgue capacity
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The omicron-fueled surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations had at least one Kansas hospital leader checking morgue capacity ahead of legislative debates over the health care staffing emergency.
"It's going to be a rough couple weeks," said Catherine Satterwhite, the region's health administrator for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a University of Kansas Health System media briefing.
It is unclear when the omicron case surge will peak.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment data released Friday show a seven-day average of nearly 7,900 new cases a day, as well as about 45 new hospitalizations and nine new deaths each day.
The highly contagious omicron variant appears to have become the dominant strain in Kansas in recent weeks. However, only a small fraction of positive tests undergo genomic sequencing to determine the virus strain. Omicron has been confirmed to be in 59 of the state's 105 counties.
Satterwhite said the numbers of unvaccinated and un-boosted people will impact the severity of the omicron surge.
Public health officials continue to struggle to convince more people to get vaccinated. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the OSHA vaccine mandate for large employers, but allowed the CMS vaccine mandate for health care workers.
Federal data on Kansas vaccination rates, as of Thursday, show the following:
70% of population has had a first dose.
58% of population is fully vaccinated.
37% of the fully vaccinated population has gotten a booster.
48% of the 12-17 population is fully vaccinated.
15% of the 5-11 population is fully vaccinated.
For the 65 and older population, 88% are fully vaccinated, and 60% of the fully vaccinated senior citizens have gotten a booster.
Pulmonologist and critical care specialist Tim Williamson said it is "good news" that the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the federal vaccine mandate for health care workers to continue. KU hospitals have already implemented their own requirement.
"It's the right thing to do for our employees, providers and patients and to keep everybody safe," said Williamson, who is also the health system's vice present of quality and safety.
Experts expect to see a sharp decline eventually, but are unsure when that will come as cases across the region continue on a steep trajectory. Once that happens, it will still be about 14 days until the peak in ICU admissions and about 21 days before the peak in deaths, Satterwhite said.
"Even though we may see a rapid decline in cases, even in the next few weeks, there will be a lag in hospitalizations and ultimately in those very severe outcomes, including death, that we really want to prevent by preventing infection in the first place," she said.
AdventHealth Shawnee Mission chief medical officer Lisa Hays said her hospital went from 46 to 82 active COVID-19 patients in about a week. The emergency department was holding 25 patients, with the longest hold waiting 48 hours for a hospital bed.
"The other issue that's a new thing for me is morgue capacity," Hays said in a KU briefing. "Had to learn how many bodies our morgue could hold yesterday and determine whether that was going to be adequate for what our needs are."
KDHE data show more people have gone to hospital emergency rooms seeking treatment of COVID-19 than at any prior point in the pandemic. About 13% of all emergency department visits in the past week were for COVID-19.
Flu prevalence at ERs is also the highest it has been since March 2020.
A Kansas Hospital Association report on Wednesday showed COVID-19 hospitalizations are worse now than at any previous point in the pandemic. The report covers all of Kansas, plus the Kansas City metro area.
Adult hospitalizations now are 28% higher and pediatric hospitalizations are quadruple than at the same point a year ago. Many hospital leaders have said the vast majority of patients are unvaccinated or did not get a booster shot.
Kansas legislators advance COVID staffing emergency bill
State lawmakers have advanced a bill designed to address the staffing emergency at hospitals and nursing homes.
Gov. Laura Kelly's 15-day emergency declaration and two executive orders provide temporary regulatory relief. But without legislative action, the provisions would expire at the end of the week.
The House is scheduled to debate a bill on Tuesday that would codify the measures into a temporary statute through May 15. The House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the bill.
The executive orders and proposed bill allow certain people, such as medical students and military personnel, to volunteer in certain hospital settings, among many other provisions tied to staffing.
Asked whether her orders would lead to a lesser quality of care for patients, Kelly said it beats the alternative of no care.
"Right now we have an issue because of the staffing shortage," she told reporters after announcing the orders. "So is it ideal? No. But it's better than what's going on where people are not getting treated."
Tara Mays, a Kansas Hospital Association lobbyist, told House and Senate judiciary committees on Thursday that health care administrators statewide support the temporary regulatory relief.
"Kansas hospitals, as you might imagine, we certainly never would have wished to be here and didn't think when we all adjourned back in May that we would be here where we are today," Mays said.
She said the executive orders "have really begun to provide our Kansas hospitals with some of the needed tools to address some of the concerns and challenges that we are experiencing in being able to ensure access to care for patients during this time with historic patient volumes."
The regulatory flexibilities will help address what hospitals view as a temporary staffing crisis.
"Unfortunately, we believe that the reality is that the peak of our hospitalizations has likely not yet been reached," Mays said.
The hospital association does not have a specific end date they would like to see for the regulatory relief.
"We are really focused on getting through the next few months," she said.
Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, suggested that hospitals are "creating a bottleneck" by "relying on false information" from COVID tests.
"The FDA finally ended the emergency authorization use of the PCR test because they admitted that it could not differentiate between COVID and influenza," Thompson said.
A USA Today fact check determined a similar claim "badly mangles the facts." In reality, the CDC decided to withdraw its own PCR test "because the demand for it has decreased with the authorization of other diagnostic tests — not because it confuses viruses."
Mays said patient screenings for COVID and other respiratory viruses are important because staff must take additional precautions.
More: Fact check: CDC is withdrawing its PCR COVID-19 test, but not because it confuses viruses
Nursing home residents, staff behind on boosters
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data on federally licensed nursing homes, released Wednesday, show that in Kansas, 87% of care facility residents are fully vaccinated, as are 75% of staff.
Weekly CMS statistics show the current surge nationwide has seen more residents infected than at any point since January 2021, and more staff infected than at any prior point in the pandemic.
Federal data show that for many Kansas facilities, not all vaccinated residents got boosters. Booster uptake has been especially poor among staff.
Below is a searchable database of the most recent CMS nursing home vaccination rate data for federally-license Kansas facilities.
State data show many nursing home clusters statewide.
Active COVID outbreak locations
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment on Wednesday reported 218 active coronavirus clusters statewide. Long-term care facilities and schools are the most common cluster locations, with 121 and 26 outbreaks, respectively.
State prisons are experiencing large outbreaks. Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary Jeff Zmuda suspended in-person prison visitation last week, citing spread of COVID-19 among staff and inmates.
"As we need to make every effort to mitigate further spread of the COVD-19 virus, and as our staffing levels are critical, we must take the step of again suspending in-person visitation at all juvenile and adult correctional facilities," Zmuda said.
Below is a list of the active outbreak locations publicly identified by KDHE. Not all outbreaks are public information. Case counts are for the past 14 days.
The health department publicly identifies certain outbreaks "in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19," according to agency policy.
"This publication is in keeping with the KDHE effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 disease by notifying the public of recent risk of exposure," the KDHE policy states. "Notifications of this type are provided when the KDHE believes that the notification will benefit the public and aid in stopping the spread of the disease."
Corrections
Crawford County Jail in Girard, 6.
El Dorado Correctional Facility, 56.
Ellsworth Correctional Facility, 16.
Hutchinson Correctional Facility, 5.
Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex in Topeka, 40.
Lansing Correctional Facility, 64.
Riley County Correctional Facility in Manhattan, 13.
Sedgwick County Jail in Wichita, 17.
Sedgwick County Juvenile Detention Facility in Wichita, 16.
Shawnee County Jail in Topeka, 15.
Topeka Correctional Facility, 30.
Wichita Work Release Facility, 35.
Winfield Correctional Facility, 52.
Day Cares
Home Daycare in Great Bend, 6.
Lets Grow in Merriam, 8.
Little Learners East in Overland Park, 7.
Little Sunshine Overland Park, 5.
Mini Masters Learning Center in Topeka, 8.
Wee Workshop in Overland Park, 7.
Government.
Miami County Sheriff's Office in Paola, 7.
Group Living
Kansas Neurological Institute in Topeka, 15.
KidsTLC in Olathe, 6.
Lakemary in Olathe, 17.
New Jerusalem Missions in Newton, 6.
ResCare Community Living in Newton, 24.
St. Francis Center at Salina, 12.
Starkey Inc. in Wichita, 30.
Topeka Rescue Mission, 15.
Union Rescue Mission in Wichita, 81.
Wichita Children's Home, 30.
Health Care
Meadowbrook Rehab Hospital in Gardner, 5.
Russell Regional Hospital, 5.
Long-Term Care Facilities
Aberdeen Village in Olathe, 13.
Addington Place in Prairie Village, 8.
AdventHealth Care Center in Overland Park, 9.
Anthology of Overland Park, 16.
Avita Health and Rehab at Reeds Cove in Wichita, 13.
Bethany Home in Lindsborg, 6.
Brewster Place in Topeka, 7.
Brookdale College Square in Overland Park, 13.
Brookdale East Wichita, 32.
Brookdale Overland Park, 20.
Brookdale Rosehill in Shawnee, 6.
Catholic Care Center in Bel Air, 8.
Cedar Lake Village in Olathe, 8.
Cherryvale Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Cherryvale, 20.
Chisolm Place Memory Care in Wichita, 21.
Colonial Oaks at Leawood in Leawood, 6.
Colonial Village in Overland Park, 12.
Delmar Gardens of Lenexa, 11.
Delmar Gardens of Overland Park, 10.
Derby Health and Rehabilitation in Derby, 6.
Diversicare of Sedgwick, 45.
Edwardsville Care and Rehab in Edwardsville, 5.
Evergreen in Olathe, 26.
Family Health and Rehab in Wichita, 15.
Garden Terrace in Overland Park, 21.
Good Samaritan Society in Olathe, 12.
Healthcare Resort of Leawood, 5.
Healthcare Resort of Olathe, 15.
Heritage of Overland Park, 13.
Hillside Village of DeSoto, 13.
Hoeger House in Olathe, 10.
Homestead Estates in Wichita, 10.
Hutchinson Health and Rehab, 5.
Lakeview Village in Lenexa, 36.
Lamar Court in Overland Park, 18.
Larksfield Place Health Center in Wichita, 21.
Lexington Park Health and Rehab in Topeka, 14.
Life Care Center in Kansas City, 16.
Meadowlark Hills in Manhattan, 14.
Medicalodge in Great Bend, 32.
Medicalodges Gardner, 15.
Meridian Health and Rehab in Wichita, 16.
Merriam Gardens in Merriam, 6.
Midland Care in Topeka, 20.
Neuvant House Lawrence, 7.
Osawatomie State Hospital Nursing Facility for Men, 19.
Overland Park Care Center, 11.
Parkview Care Center in Osborne, 7.
Pine Village in Moundridge, 21.
Pioneer Ridge Health and Rehab in Lawrence, 8.
Plaza West Healthcare and Rehab in Topeka, 5.
Prairie Elder Care in Overland Park, 13.
Premier Living by Warden in Wichita, 11.
Presbyterian Manor in Salina, 13.
Regent Park Assisted Living in Wichita, 5.
Regent Park Rehabilitation in Wichita, 6.
Rolling Hills Health and Rehab in Wichita, 13.
Sedgwick Plaza in Wichita, 11.
Sharon Lane in Shawnee, 6.
Shawnee Gardens in Shawnee, 102.
Shawnee PARC in Overland Park, 29.
Silvercrest at College View in Lenexa, 8.
Smith County Health and Rehab in Smith Center, 9.
Stratford Commons in Overland Park, 15.
Sunrise of Leawood in Leawood, 8.
The Cedars McPherson, 14.
The Healthcare Resort in Kansas City, 8.
The Healthcare Resort Assisted Living in Topeka, 8.
The Village at Mission in Prairie Village, 11.
Topeka Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare, 16.
Trinity Manor in Dodge City, 5.
Via Christi Village Ridge Assisted Living in Wichita, 23.
Villa St Francis in Olathe, 11.
Village Shalom in Overland Park, 16.
Wheatland Healthcare Center in Kingman, 6.
Windsor Place in Coffeyville, 10.
Private Businesses
Johnson County Developmental Services CRL in Lenexa, 6.
Koch & Company in Seneca, 8.
Vortex - Solids & Bulk Handling Components in Salina, 7.
Schools
Anthony Elementary School in Anthony, 7.
Children's Village Monessori in Overland Park, 5.
Heartspring School in Wichita, 25.
Marion Middle/High School in Marion, 7.
North Fairview Elementary School in Topeka Seaman, 7.
Oak Hill Elementary School in Overland Park, 5.
Peabody Burns High School in Peabody, 6.
Soderstrom Elementary School in Lindsborg, 7.
USD 321 - Rossville, 16.
USD 417 Elementary School in Council Grove, 6.
Wamego Schools, 32.
Sports
Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park, 9.
Wabaunsee Junior High in Paxico, 14.
Jason Tidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jtidd@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason_Tidd.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas hospital checks morgue capacity as COVID variant omicron surges
