SPOKANE, Wash. — Ahead of the Washington State Hospital Association's media briefing, Providence Healthcare gave an update on the COVID-19 situation in Washington. The update included information about hospital capacity, changes to visitor regulations and the deployment of the Washington National Guard.
Providence Chief Executive Susan Stacey is set to speak at the media briefing on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022 at 10 a.m.
Following updates to COVID-19 guidelines from Gov. Jay Inslee and Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD), Providence shared the following updates on how COVID-19 is impacting the healthcare system:
Visitor regulations
Providence said they will return to their no-visitor policy for adult patients on Wednesday, Jan. 19. This policy will not apply to maternity, children and "end-of-life," according to a release from Providence.
The release said the rule change will keep patients and staff safer as the more-contagious Omicron variant continues to spread.
Providence will "continue to evaluate and adjust these guidelines to ensure the safety of patients and caregivers."
Testing
Providence is not offering public COVID-19 testing at this time because they do not have the supplies or staff to do so, according to the release. Only patients being admitted to the hospital can receive a COVID-19 test in the emergency department.
Surgeries
Following Gov. Inslee's announcement that all non-urgent medical procedures will be paused, Providence said they are continuing to evaluate each surgery and procedure.
Patients with an upcoming surgery are advised to contact their doctor's office for more information but are asked to not call the hospital with questions about their procedure.
Capacity
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Holy Family Hospital are still facing a significant capacity issue, according to the release. An increase in patients and limited staffing continues to cause these capacity issues.
In Eastern Washington, Providence hospitals are reportedly seeing a steady increase in COVID-19 patients. However, Providence said they are not experiencing a large number of children being admitted for COVID-19.
Despite the strain, Providence still urges residents to come to the hospital is they are very ill.
National Guard Deployment
Gov. Inslee also announced that the Washington National Guard was being activated to help ease the strain on Washington hospitals. Providence said ten members of the guard and one liaison are set to arrive at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center on Jan. 21.
Providence said this team will serve in non-clinical roles, primarily in the emergency department.
The National Guard is expected to stay for 30 days.