The COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our rural hospitals

Haxtun Health is here to weather the storm for patients and community.

For most of America, the city that never sleeps often represents New York City or Las Vegas, or any other bustling metropolis that has some type of night life. For our local communities, this term generally doesn't ring true, except for within the healthcare world.

Haxtun Health, as with many other rural hospitals around, is a city that never sleeps, open all day and night caring for and treating patients around the clock. During a worldwide pandemic, the sleepless nights become longer and the stress levels are certainly elevated.

COVID-19 has brought on challenges for everyone and for every business and Haxtun Health has experienced a rash of them over the course of 2020. When this began in March, the entire Haxtun Health protocol system went through a rigorous evaluation, asking the "What If" questions: What if we get to many patients with the virus?, What if our staff gets sick?, What is our ventilator situation?, How can we obtain more PPE?, How much do we need?; the questions went on and on and the staff and administration worked hard to prepare for the onslaught.

"And then, we just waited, with this heightened sense of awareness and adrenalin coursing through our bodies with every patient that walked through the door. It never really happened in those early months," said Jessie Cochran, Nursing Director at Haxtun Health. "It's here now and all the prep work is going to pay off. We're ready to care for our community."

Haxtun Health had a few patients with the virus early on but as the first and second wave of the pandemic swept through the nation, Haxtun Health and the rest of the Midwest fared well from the virus itself. It wasn't until the third wave of the pandemic when things began to heat up in our community.

"One of our biggest concerns from an operational standpoint has been with staffing when the virus does finally show up in our community," said Dewane Pace, Chief Executive Officer of Haxtun Health.

"When a staff member is ill or quarantined, someone else has to fill that shift. Our doors can't close. Other staff have to pick up shifts and it's taxing on the mental and physical state of our care team when they don't get a break," Lea White, Chief Nursing Officer at Haxtun Health, said.

As COVID-19 cases increase within the county, Haxtun Health employees are furthering their efforts to protect themselves and their patients. They have significantly limited the amount of foot traffic through the main building, staggered shifts as much as possible and have encouraged employees to mask up and to keep their distance when possible even outside of work.

Mask wearing has been a point of contention in general for most in the Midwest throughout the course of the pandemic, especially in the first few waves when the rural areas were least affected by the virus. Politics quickly became a primary driver of the mask resistance, and, coupled with the fact that the virus was not widely spread in our area, the concept appeared futile to many. With the third wave of the pandemic hitting harder and closer to home, it's important for our community to pause and be more vigilant about doing things that can help prevent its spread. Mask wearing and hand washing to prevent the spread of a virus isn't a new concept in the healthcare world. Healthcare professionals often wear masks when caring for patients who are sick with viruses for a reason. The bottom line is, they are an available tool to everyone in our community to help prevent the virus from spreading. Haxtun Health urges the community to keep in mind our population and those demographics that are affected the most drastically by the virus are those 65 and older as well as those with chronic and underlying health conditions.

Tru-D UVC Robots

Haxtun Health has also taken proactive measures to help protect against the spread of the virus by enhancing infection control at both Haxtun and Fleming Schools. Tru-D UVC Robots were recently purchased by Haxtun Health and while one Tru-D Robot will remain on campus, the other two are now located at the schools where they will be used to help with infection control to help keep our students and staff from all kinds of viruses.

The machines' light "sweeps" a room and, according to their manufacturer, Tru-D Smart UVC, destroys 99.9 percent of the bacteria and spores left in the room after patient discharge. What's more, recent company studies show "its patented Sensor360® technology is effective for inactivation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on hard, nonporous surfaces."  SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes the novel coronavirus or COVID-19.

Haxtun Health's environmental services team and school janitorial staff trained together last week on how to use the devices. Haxtun Health has already implemented the Tru-D robot into a regularly scheduled rotation for infection control. Both Haxtun and Fleming Schools will adopt a utilization plan that works for their staff.

Symptoms we are seeing locally; a message from Haxtun Health providers

Early symptoms such as nasal congestion, sore throat, headaches and ear pain are trends that our Haxtun Health providers are seeing at the moment. It's important to keep in mind these symptoms can also be symptoms of a cold or the flu. Regardless of what virus an individual might have, it's important to stay home and away from others if you are sick.

Staying ahead of the curve with your health is also important. Haxtun Health is encouraging individuals to schedule annual wellness exams and stay active and hydrated.

Appointments can be made by calling the Haxtun Health Clinic at (970) 774-6187.