Kona Community Hospital COVID-19 Community Update - August 6, 2021

Kona Community Hospital
COVID 19 Community Update – August 6, 2021
 
 
Aloha All,
 
At Kona Community Hospital, we continue to see high positivity rates in the Emergency Department. We currently have ten COVID positive inpatients; zero of these patients are vaccinated. Since we began measuring vaccine status of admitted patients, only one COVID positive patient was vaccinated.
 
We continue to appeal to anyone who has been postponing receiving the COVID vaccine to do so now. 
 
The Incident Command Team made the decision to set up our emergency triage tent as a precautionary measure. WE are now fully prepared in the event that the Emergency Department experiences an overflow of ED patients with COVID-like symptoms. Maintenance, emergency department and IT personnel did a great job of preparing the two-room tent for future use, if needed.
 
Two current situations at KCH include staffing shortages, and an inpatient census that puts our hospital near capacity. The two news stories below provide details:
 
KHON2 News (including interview with Diane Hale, RN, Chief Nurse) – August 5: Help is on the way for Hawaii hospitals as need for nurses grows amid coronavirus spike | KHON2
 
HPR – The Conversation (including interview with Judy Donovan) – August 6: Big Island Hospital “Critically Low on Staff”  (Big Island coverage is the first story in this program).
 
                                                                                                                                                         
 
Many of you saw today’s Hawaii Tribune Herald article, Governor signs order requiring county, state employees to get vaccinated or face regular testing.  To clarify, HHSC employees, including all West Hawaii Region staff,  are not included in the jurisdictions listed in the Governor’s proclamation. Rather, the Governor is honoring HHSC’s process of exploring a path toward a vaccine mandate upon full FDA approval of the vaccine. Full FDA approval is expected in the coming weeks, likely by Labor Day.
                                                                                                                                                         
 
Kona Community Hospital COVID-19 update for August 6, 2021 (as of 3:00pm) below:

• 10 total
  • 5 ICU
  • 5 Med Surg acute care unit
  • 1 ventilator(s) in use for COVID patient(s)
• As of August 6, 2021 a cumulative total of 9 deaths have occurred in the hospital (no change since last update).

 
View Hawaii’s latest reported statistics:  

• Total confirmed cases in State as of August 4:   45,245
• Total confirmed cases in County as of August 4:  4,594
• Total reported cases in County last 14 days: 986

 
KCH Call Center & COVID Email Update:
Requests for replacement COVID-19 vaccination cards may be submitted to the KCH Call Center phone line or the COVID vaccine email address.

• KCH Call Center 808-322-4451 (Note: this phone is for voicemails only).
• KCH Email Address: KCHCovidVaccine@hhsc.org (Note: email is currently the preferred form of contact).

 
COVID-19 Vaccination Update: KCH is NOT currently a vaccination site.
 

• Total KCH staff vaccination rate: 80%
• Total Kohala Hospital staff vaccination rate: 86%
• Total vaccinations administered in State as of August 4:  1,771,301  (60.5%)

 
Current Testing sites: The KCH Emergency Department is NOT a public testing site.
Visit County of Hawaii - COVID-19 Testing webpage for information and a listing of free community testing sites.
 
Current vaccination sites in Hawaii County can be found on the Hawaii County COVID-19 Vaccine Summary webpage.
 
Homebound Vaccination Program:  KTA has launched a homebound vaccination program. Providers can refer a patient by visiting this link:  https://form.jotform.com/211115745590149
 
See additional COVID-19 information at the Kona Community Hospital website.