Surge in hospitalization?

[Leonidas]

Youngest son is in the hospital recovering from an operation he had Thursday at a hospital in the Texas Medical Center Texas Medical Center - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The experience has been good, and we've moved through the system smoothly with almost no hiccups. However, there were some delays at first; the OR was a little backed up, and then we were in the recovery room for hours while they waited for a room to be ready. The surgeon told me the hospital was completely full, which was unusual for this time of year. He said winter was usually the busy time. The recovery nurse was commenting on how busy they were that night. It seemed busy, with close to 50 patients rotating through recovery while we were there for about 5-6 hours.

I've had a few brief conversations with staff members from other hospitals and I've asked how busy they were and they mostly agreed that they were swamped. The only exception was a team of surgical residents I was standing in line with last night at McDonald's. Apparently their schedule was messed up because of a continual reshuffling of operations due to changing priorities brought on by a massive influx of new cases. The difference was that they said that Summer was their busy time and it wouldn't slow down until September. They seemed a little young and full of themselves (look at us - we're busy busy busy slicing people open), so I'm not sure about their evaluation. Especially compared with everyone else saying that the volume is unusual.

I caught a brief news story that said hospitalization was up across the country as people who still have jobs, and health insurance, are trying to take care of health issues while they still have the insurance.

Rich, anybody else in the healthcare biz, are you seeing a surge in demand?

 

[bbbamI]

Well, I'm not in the healthcare biz and can't comment on a surge...just wanted to say I hope your son is doing ok.

 

[CuppaJoe]

I also hope your son is doing well, is he home?

I had one experience with an out-patient procedure where I got into the recovery chair about 3 p.m. and at midnight they gave up because I wasn't passing the exit requirements so they admitted me for the night. On another later occasion, they sent me home almost instantly even though I wasn't passing the same tests. A friend took me home and was appalled that they sent me home that way, her daughter is a doctor and she believed this is a huge change in discharge procedures, I remember her using the word, barbaric. I'm wondering if there are fewer hospital beds now because procedures that used to be in-hospital are now done on an out-patient basis.

 

[ziggy29]

I have read articles about this. Health insurance costs are expected to rise for employers 9%, according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and one of the reasons specifically cited is that "workers worried about losing their jobs are using their health care more while they still have it".

Personally, I'd be more afraid to discover a pre-existing condition just before I lost my group health insurance, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Hope your son is recovering and will be home soon, Leonidas.

I wonder if the number of beds has been cut back (like the number of flights in the travel biz), and now they are all filled.

 

[Moemg]

Hope your son is doing well !
When I worked in health care there were times when we were swamped for no rhyme or reason and then it would slow down . Summer is a huge time for accidents . People bringing out the lawnmowers , hedge clippers , fireworks , sports and of course motorcycles .

 

[Notmuchlonger]

It comes and goes. Sometimes they send nurses home because of not enough patients. Other times they are begging people to stay over or come in early for OT.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Rich, anybody else in the healthcare biz, are you seeing a surge in demand?

We're always near or at capacity. Haven't seen anything national.

Best wishes to your son.

 

[DblDoc]

Hope your son gets well soon.

PNW ED volumes are down as is reimbursement as we see more unemployed without insurance presenting for care. Our OR volumes are also down but we see no difference in bed availability when admitting patients as hospital staffing is reduced and sick calls spike with the nice weather.

DD

 

[ziggy29]

PNW ED volumes are down as is reimbursement as we see more unemployed without insurance presenting for care.

This is another quoted reason as to why health insurance premiums are expected to be much higher again next year.

It's also a sign of how the system is screwed up. When people who can't pay come in for care, those who CAN pay (those who are insured or have a lot of cash) have to pay more.

 

[Nords]

Rich, anybody else in the healthcare biz, are you seeing a surge in demand?

Hope your son's doing OK, Leo. Few things scarier to a parent than their kid in the hospital, especially when it involves anaesthesia.

I've read that June/July is a busy transition time when the medical school graduates are making their way to their internships and getting started on their learning curves. So maybe what you were seeing was an instructional three-ring circus?

 

[Meadbh]

In my area volumes are significantly up due to the pandemic.

 

[Leonidas]

Thanks for all the kind thoughts guys. He's doing well but won't be home for a few days more - perhaps Thursday or Friday. He has to transition from the epidural to oral pain medication and the plan is to start today by gradually reducing the epidural while starting the oral medication. They shoot for at least 24-hours completely free of the epidural before they will discharge him. His anesthesiologist is talking about extending that a little just to be sure before she sends him home.

It's amazing how quickly they get them up and around after an operation. He walked a bit Friday with two nurses supporting him and was weak and nauseous. Saturday he walked twice as far in the morning, and then by the afternoon he walked twice as far again and did the last bit unsupported. I've noticed other patients making the same rapid recovery. One girl could barely walk with two nurses holding her up one morning, and by the next she was walking around by herself and laughing.

We have seen a lot of students (there's two or three medical schools in the center and probably a dozen nursing colleges), but they're always accompanied by regular staff. June is probably the time newbies start transitioning in, we had two yesterday - one who obviously had been working there for a while already, and then a brand new one who came in and to introduce himself and ask our permission to be part of the nursing team for our son. I thought that was kind of interesting.

There are no cutbacks here. I commented to one of the techs last night that she was working a long shift that day, and she said "They're giving us lots of overtime because of vacations, so I'm getting all I can." It looks like every hospital here (there's 14 or so) are building new towers. They're working around the clock on what looks like billions in construction projects.

Thanks for the replies and especially the kind thoughts. The operation he had is interesting and we were completely amazed by the results. We really lucked out on the surgeons, the senior guy has done almost 1,000 of these procedures, his younger partner has been working with him for years and they had a complete team that they work with exclusively for this. It went smooth as can be. The only issue we had was a pain control problem the first night, but they called their "pain response team" and they were there in minutes adjusting the medication and have been on top of it since then.

I may post a picture or two later (I have interior shots even), but if you're interested there is a wiki article here: Nuss procedure - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Meadbh]

Leonidas, I'm glad your son is feeling better. Although the main benefit of the Nuss operation is cosmetic, it's a major procedure, and, like all surgical procedures involving bone, quite painful.

Now DS will be able to strut his manly chest at the girls!

 

[Leonidas]

We brought him home today and he's doing fine.

Although the main benefit of the Nuss operation is cosmetic...

My insurance company wouldn't have paid for it until we visited a crew of specialists to document the health issue. When my wife first advocated this procedure a couple of years ago I was somewhat opposed because I thought she was approaching it from the cosmetic angle. But after our visits to the pulmonologist and a pediatric cardiologist I changed my mind.

If anything, the last year of our son's life proved to me that his condition was severely impacting his health. His lung capacity was less than half of normal and deteriorating. He was on a steroidal inhaler just so he could make it through a normal school day. All of the images we had done in the workup showed his lungs were being compacted by his chest, and the before "interior" shot we got from the surgeon showed his sternum right on top of his heart. The after shot shows that he now has breathing room, literally.

Back OT - The ER was pretty dead over the weekend, but on weekdays they had them stacked up all over the place. It's a children's hospital so I don't know if that makes a difference, but as I remember it, most ERs were jam packed on Friday and Saturdays.

 

[bbbamI]

We brought him home today and he's doing fine.

Great to hear Leo!