Albuquerque hospitals address capacity as tents are set up to triage patients
By Vince Rodriguez, Breana Albizu
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ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (KOAT) — Several Albuquerque hospitals held a press conference to provide an update on rising cases of respiratory illnesses in New Mexico.
During Monday’s virtual meeting, UNM Hospital, Lovelace Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital addressed hospital capacity and the steps they’re taking to treat and manage adult and pediatric patients.
All three facilities have seen high volume numbers over the past month, due to a mixture of respiratory viruses. They include COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza, rhinovirus and the flu — especially when it comes to children.
“Many of the kids in the ICU are needing to be intubated or needing breathing tubes,” said Dr. Anna Duran, associate chief medical director at UNM Children’s Hospital. “To give you an idea of what this looks like, we generally have anywhere between two and four patients with breathing tubes in our 20-bed unit. Today, we have 22 patients and 16 of those patients do have breathing tubes.”
Due to the continuous surge in cases, UNM Hospital has set up a tent outside of the emergency department because the hospital has more patients now than at any time during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has impacted patient care at the trauma center.
KOAT got an exclusive look inside one of the tents. Laptops, recycle bins and other supplies were seen to assist doctors.
For the time being, hospital staff will use them to greet new patients. That includes triaging or assessing based on one’s needs.
“This was in response to the high levels of those respiratory infections that we’re seeing in the hospital. Because of the impact on the space in the emergency department, we opened this tent, which is allowing us a little bit of extra space, some flexibility,” said Dr. Steve McLaughlin, chief medical officer at UNM Hospital.
Although the triage tents are a temporary solution, officials said that operations will seem a bit different for patients who visit their emergency department.
Such as longer wait times.
“What you can expect is to be triaged, and that triage process determines if it’s safe for someone to wait,” McLaughlin said. “We are experiencing increased wait times and the triage process is really important to determine who is safe, who is safe to wait, and who needs to be seen right away.”
Doctors recommend doing certain things at home if someone feels sick. They include wearing a face mask, staying home when sick, and getting available vaccines for the flu and COVID-19.
To learn about more resources, visit UNM Hospital’s website.
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