'Our Hospitals Are More Prepared': Local Doctor Talks About Latest COVID-19 Surge, Vaccines
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Dr. Victor Waters, chief medical officer at Dignity Health - St. Bernardine Medical Center, spoke Monday with Juan Fernandez and Jasmine Viel about the current COVID-19 surge, vaccines and the challenges local hospitals are facing.
Below is a transcript of their conversation.
Juan: Dr. Waters, tell us what you're seeing in your hospital first off and the ICU situation there.
Dr. Waters: Well, in San Bernardino County hospitals, and us included at St. Bernardine Medical Center, are experiencing surges. We have a large number of patients, just over the past few weeks, a significant increase of our hospitalizations in our ICU, clearly across all of San Bernardino.
Juan: Quick question for you also regarding the patients you're seeing: are most of these patients being intubated as well? Early on in the pandemic, we saw a lot of these patients being intubated, and then we heard some different information about that. What what are some of the patients in ICU dealing with right now?
Dr. Waters: Yeah, we're still dealing with patients that require intubation. Many may need to be on what we call rotoprone beds, where you rotate to improve their oxygenation. The patients are a little bit different this time around, they're patients who have COVID diagnosis or have been exposed to COVID, but may be coming in for other complex medical conditions. So it's not as as robust in that sense of the word.
Juan: Let's talk about the vaccine now. A lot of people talking about that and being very hopeful. The U.K. is going to start vaccinating people this week in the U.S. in the next couple of weeks.
Jasmine: So doctor, what do you say to people who think that the vaccine will fix all of this and then just fix it quickly? And then second, what do you say to people who are scared to get the vaccine, they just don't trust it?
Dr. Waters: Right. And I understand there's been a lot of concerns about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. But what I can say is that our organization Dignity Health is really looking at the data very hard as we get approval from emergency use. We want to employ and deploy this vaccination as quickly as possible. And let me say this, so far, preliminarily, it seems to be safe. I'm going to take the vaccine, get the vaccine, receive immunization and roll this out to the high-risk frontline providers as an example. That's my commitment, because as I understand it, this can make a difference. Now, it doesn't mean that you can just go out there and not wear masks. You need to continue to use the same precautions, because there's still a chance that you could potentially get COVID. So it's not going to change everything overnight. This is a long marathon road right now we're in, but the vaccine hopefully will make a difference.
Jasmine: Yeah, we do hope and yeah, we just don't know if it will prevent transmission, or how long he will stay immune correct to coronavirus.
Dr. Waters: That's correct. We don't know the exact time, the duration of the vaccine's efficacy, but so far, there are some hopeful signs that it can help make a difference.
Jasmine: Okay, well, what about this? You know, I'm sure some people at home are thinking, "Hey, if you're running low on hospital beds, why don't you just add more?" What do you say to that? Are we looking right now, first off in your situation, to patients three or more to a room?
Dr. Waters: No, but what I can say is if you need help, if you need care, you still need to come to the emergency room. There's far more disadvantages of trying to stay home when you really need to come to the emergency room and seek help. Our hospitals are more prepared, we have the adequate testing, we have adequate protective equipment, we're working to accommodate every patient that we can to serve and to treat and to heal. It's important not to take it upon themselves to stay at home and not get the proper care.
Jasmine: But can you add more beds, just going back to that question? How easy is that to then expand the care?
Dr. Waters: Well, every hospital in the area and L.A. County is going to struggle with accommodating patients in their rooms, but we are going to continue to do that. So that means that if we have to put up tents, that we have to find other additional spacing, it's called we're in a pandemic, we think out of the box and we provide as much space and care so everyone is safely cared for in the proper place that includes the intensive care unit.
Juan: And doctor, what about staffing when it comes to that? I know a lot of nurses have been stressed, doctors have been stressed during this time. How staffing at this point?
Dr. Waters: Well in the area, it's really been a challenge and every hospital is faced with staff being, you know, staff calling out because they may have been in contact with a COVID patient or may be ill themselves, so it's a real challenge. Everybody has pulled in to work together to try to mitigate the stress. This is, no question, unprecedented times we're in, but the staff are committed, they understand what's happening., we're doing everything we can to protect them and give them the time they need the breaks they need. We've been bracing for this. We've been in the eye of the storm for a while. And now here we are in the storm. So we've been doing everything to gear up our staff to protect them, make sure we have adequate backup.
Juan: And we appreciate all that you do and the nurses as well. Dr. Victor Waters, chief medical officer for Dignity Health - St. Bernadine Medical Center. Thank you so much for joining us today.
