Vermont COVID hospitalizations hit another record high: How are state leaders responding?

April Fisher, Burlington Free Press
·2 min read

Vermont has reached a record high of COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 90 people receiving hospital care due to the coronavirus as of Dec. 8. Of those people, 31 are in intensive care.

Over the last week, 74% of Vermonters hospitalized for COVID were not vaccinated. Of the people in intensive care, 81% are not vaccinated.

Cases in Vermont among fully vaccinated people have increased by 52% over the last week, following the Thanksgiving holiday. For people who are not fully vaccinated, cases have increased by 95%.

This makes Vermont the state with the second highest rate of cases per capita in the country over the last seven days, behind Minnesota.

A nurse at the University of Vermont Medical Center Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU) cares for a COVID-19 positive child receiving care on Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021. For months, more and more patients with acute health conditions have landed in the ICU and a second COVID-19 surge is stretching capacity. Where a typical acute patient might spend a week or less in the ICU, COVID-19 patients can take up a bed for a month or more.

Vermont hospital capacity

This surge has put a strain on the state's hospital capacity. On average, ICU beds are around 90% occupied, according to Vermont Department of Health data.

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The state is aiming to reduce hospitalizations by providing vaccines for anyone ages 5 and older, and boosters for anyone ages 18 and older, Human Services Secretary Mike Smith said in a press conference on Dec. 7.

Smith said the state is also planning on freeing up hospital space by moving some patients who are awaiting discharge and don't need hospital-specific care any more to beds in long-term care or rehab facilities.

So far, 98 patients have been moved to these facilities, and the state is trying to find additional staff to oversee 21 more vacant beds in separate facilities, according to Smith.

The previous record (one week ago): Vermont reports record COVID-19 hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic

The state administration is trying to recruit additional EMTs and paramedics from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but FEMA has not yet approved this request, Smith said.

Workforce shortages add to challenge

An ever-worsening staffing shortage has also significantly constrained the state's hospital capacity, Gov. Phil Scott said at the press conference.

COVID-19 cases are filling about 8% of Vermont's general hospital beds and 25-30% of ICU beds, Scott said. Patients with non-COVID conditions are also significantly pushing up against hospital capacities — and staffing shortages are partly to blame, Scott said.

"From a long-term perspective, I'm much more concerned about our workforce crisis than I am (the) COVID crisis," Scott said. "It was impacting us before the pandemic, and it's certainly not getting any better, and in fact getting worse."

Taking precautions: UVM Medical Center tightens rules for visitors during surge of COVID-19 cases

Contact April Fisher at amfisher@freepressmedia.com. Follow on Twitter: @AMFisherMedia

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: COVID-19 hospitalizations reach record high in Vermont