Throughout the pande-mic, ThedaCare has been committed to protecting health and safety, and keeping communities informed of the evolving situation and its impact on our region and at ThedaCare.
“Because of the dram-atically rising levels of COVID-19, ThedaCare is seeing a record number of COVID patients in our seven hospitals,” said Lynn Detterman, Senior Vice President of the ThedaCare South Region. “Our current model predicts COVID-19 cases will continue to rise for the next two to three weeks as the highly transmissible Omicron variant spreads rapidly in Northeast and Central Wisconsin.”
Throughout the Theda Care system, there are nearly 95 COVID patients admitted as of Jan. 17, which is more than any other time during the pandemic. Nearly 80% of COVID patients who have been hospitalized or in the ICU at ThedaCare during the pandemic were unvaccinated.
“In addition to seeing a record number of COVID patients in our system, as well as continued demand for non-COVID services, we are also experiencing some of the highest absent rates of team members due to illness or exposure to the coronavirus,” Detterman said. “At any time in health care, it is not just about the number of beds a hospital system can create, or how many of those beds are open. The most important resource of capacity is caregivers. And we need our team members healthy and well to care for our patients.”
For nearly two years, ThedaCare has had numerous teams dedicated to working on planning and preparing to continue caring for communities with each turn of the pandemic.
“Every day, our teams respond in a rapid way, being agile to provide all types of care for our patients and families, and to protect the health and well-being of our community members and team members,” said Dr. Michael Hooker, ThedaCare Vice President and Chief Medical Officer-Acute Care. “Throughout the pandemic, we have been dedicated to caring for those with COVID in addition to safely providing acute care for chronic conditions and serious medical situations such as heart attacks, stroke, trauma and cancer care treatments.”
As part of the ThedaCare preparedness plan, the health system has made the vigilant decision to defer non-urgent elective surgeries, effective Jan. 17 at all seven hospitals. All urgent surgeries, and those that are performed on an outpatient basis, will continue at this time. Surgery teams and providers are evaluating procedures on a case-by-case basis, working with patients whose surgeries can safely be deferred a few weeks.
Dr. Hooker noted several factors were considered in the decision to defer surgeries, including capacity, staffing and patient conditions.
“This decision was made with the utmost concern to protect our patients, team members and communities,” explained Dr. Hooker. “Urgent and emergent care needs will continue to be treated at this time. Surgeries and procedures that can safely be postponed without undue risk to the patient or the patient’s medical condition, will be rescheduled when there is appropriate staffing to do the procedures safely.” If a patient condition changes, plans will be adjusted.
Care teams are working directly with patients to change appointments as needed. Those patients can expect a phone call from provider teams about changes to appointments and care plans.
ThedaCare will continue to monitor the situation and adjust surgery plans to best meet the needs of those served.
“We would like to thank our patients, families and our caregivers for their understanding and support of these necessary changes,” Dr. Hooker said. “We also ask for the community’s help to get the spread of the virus under control. In addition to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine and booster, ThedaCare recommends everyone wear masks and physically distance when you are with others outside of your household, stay home when you are feeling sick, and get tested if you have symptoms of COVID-19.”
