JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WJAC) — Inside Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, doctors and nurses are gearing up for another battle against an invisible enemy.
Even before confirming their first coronavirus case more than two weeks ago, they've been executing their battle plan.
“From the onset of the crisis, we followed strictly our CDC guidelines ensuring we have a quarantined unit from the rest of the patients at the hospital,” said Jelden Arcilla, Chief Nursing Officer for Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center.
Now, they’re in the thick of it.
“As time goes on, we’re seeing we’re getting more people,” said Dr. Uchenna Okereke, Infectious Disease & Epidemiology for Conemaugh Health System.
As the Coronavirus crisis unfolds, Conemaugh has been adapting. More areas in the hospital are being converted to treat potential COVID-19 patients.
Conemaugh has two units with patients currently being treated inside, with two more on standby.
“Each unit has 15 beds,” Arcilla said. “One (unit) we dedicated as critical care, generally our ventilation-dependent patients, and other ones are for those that are not as acute.
These units are separated from the rest of the hospital, with a dedicated staff there to treat suspected and confirmed patients.
“What we’ve done is take that same process we have in our isolation rooms and converted the whole floor to negative pressure,” Arcilla said. “We’ve forced the bad air out of the floor outside to outside exchange and dilute any of the particles or viruses that might be in the air.”
Conemaugh staff has heard the questions about testing levels and if the actual positive count is lower than it really is. Right now the number of patients tested who have come back positive has been below the state average.
“We have been lucky so far that we have had few cases,” Okereke said. “Not even up to 5 percent (have come back positive).”
As the health systemprepares to offer onsite lab analysis at its molecular lab, they’re confident more testing will now be done.
“We’re hoping by the end of the week we will really be able to test more and more people,” Okereke said. “Even those who come into our emergency room.”
But confidence can be a mask for fear. We've seen the photos and videos of the thousand-yard stares and cries for help from healthcare workers across the country.
That is why the staff has been working to show the appreciation they've received from across the area, with the help of messages of support and gratitude posted throughout the building
“We know these are challenging times and it impacts all of us,” Arcilla said. “These are the unsung heroes.”
“We are working together as a nursing team to help our patients in their time of need,” said Christine Schreyer.
“One thing I like to remind the staff is why did we get into nursing,” said Lisa Dean. “We want to care for the people and this is the time to do it.”
More on Conemaugh’s Coronavirus planning can be found here.
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