'This is not something we take lightly': Ohio National Guard sent to OhioHealth Mansfield

Members of the Ohio National Guard are coming to Mansfield to assist staff at OhioHealth Mansfield.

Vinson Yates, president of OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital and OhioHealth Shelby Hospital, said Wednesday in a statement, "We are appreciative of Gov. DeWine’s efforts to deploy the National Guard across Ohio to assist hospitals in a variety of ways as we manage this current COVID-19 surge. OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital will begin orienting members of the National Guard as soon as tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon."

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday that he has ordered the mobilization of an additional 1,250 members of the Ohio National Guard to support hospitals with the most critical needs across the state. The mobilization comes on the same day the state set an all-time high for the total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations during the pandemic, according to a news release.

The Ohio Hospital Association reported Wednesday that 5,356 people were currently hospitalized with COVID-19. One in four patients were COVID-19 positive. This surpassed the previous hospitalizations record of 5,308 on Dec. 15, 2020. Of the latest hospitalizations, 1,228 patients were in the ICU, which was approaching the record high of 1,318 ICU patients reported on Dec. 15, 2020, the news release said.

Ohio National Guard Deployment

As hospitals struggle with staffing to support the surge in COVID-19 patients, DeWine announced during a press conference Wednesday that he has asked Major General John C. Harris, Jr., Adjutant General, Ohio National Guard, to mobilize an additional 1,250 members of the Ohio National Guard, bringing the total deployment of National Guard members working with Ohio’s health care systems to 2,300 members.

“This is not something we take lightly.... We are asking them to leave their families, their jobs and homes. This is a huge sacrifice,” DeWine said.

The governor previously authorized the deployment of 1,050 Ohio National Guard members on Dec. 17. Harris said the Ohio National Guard’s goal is to augment hospitals’ medical staff and wraparound services. Teams including nurses and medics will provide clinical care and nonmedical teams will offer support services such as food service, patient transportation within facilities, and administrative support.

Approximately 460 guard members are deployed in the Cleveland area; more than 160 in the Toledo area, and about 100 in the Columbus area. Smaller numbers of the guard will be deployed in the coming days in Mansfield, Dayton, and Lima to support hospitals. Guard personnel are also supporting testing sites in Cleveland and Akron.

“The National Guard has been indispensable,” said Robert Wyllie, M.D., chief medical operations officer, Cleveland Clinic.

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The Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Hospital Association are working daily with Ohio hospitals to assess staffing needs to determine the most appropriate support from the Ohio National Guard, DeWine said.

“Everybody agreed when the decision was made to send in the National Guard to our hospitals … All the way through this, we are going to be guided by where they are needed most today. It should give people confidence that everybody is on the same page here. Let’s deploy them where they are needed the most,” DeWine said.

Hospitals managing COVID surge

Hospitals have been taking extraordinary measures to manage this COVID-19 surge, including postponing elective surgeries, while battling staffing shortages as a result of COVID-19 infection or exposure, and burnout.

The northern parts of Ohio have been particularly hard hit, especially the greater Cleveland area, where one in three patients are COVID-19 positive, including ICU patients, according to OHA data.

“The hospital systems are under significant stress in Northern Ohio,” Wyllie said. “We are running 2,000 tests a day. Let me tell you about those tests: 36% of the people going into the Walker Center for testing are testing positive for COVID.”

Statewide, the COVID-19 positivity rate is 25%, according to Ohio Department of Health data.

The state’s strategic hospital zone and region structure has allowed hospitals to work together with neighboring hospitals to balance the load of patients. This structure continues to be vital as cases and hospitalizations dramatically rise statewide and staffing remains a significant concern.

While southwest Ohio is not seeing the same volume of patients as northern parts of the state, Richard P. Lofgren, M..D, president and chief executive officer, UC Health, expressed concerns about the surge in cases making its way across the entire state during the coming weeks.

“Unfortunately, the pandemic is not over … we are seeing more cases now than we have ever seen along the way,” he said. “Now, the spread of omicron is adding fuel to this raging fire. One of the things that I want to make sure that people understand, is that this not only affects the care of people with COVID, but also affects people who don’t have COVID. It squeezes out our ability to take care of patients with other life-serious or life-threatening problems, such as heart attacks and strokes.”

DeWine also spoke with Jennifer Hollis, a critical care nurse at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, about her experience in the hospital.

“I just want everybody to be able to walk a mile in my shoes and kind of understand as a critical care nurse, what I am seeing when I am coming into work. It is beyond difficult,” Hollis said. “Our beds are full. There is nowhere else to go, and we are just as short-staffed as everyone else is seeing as well … We are tired, we are frustrated, and we want the best for all of our patients.”

Hollis urged Ohioans to get vaccinated to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their communities. “I’ll continue to fight for you, when you won’t fight for yourself. Please get vaccinated. Quarantine if you are symptomatic. Get tested,” she said.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Ohio National Guard deployed to OhioHealth Mansfield to assist staff