By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System continues to deal with COVID-19. There has been an increase in people that at least briefly visit the hospital for treatment.
"It's gone from one or two or three folks admitted, we now have eight or nine or ten," said CEO Ken Johnson. "We still have never seen an overrun of admissions, but we are seeing an uptick. We have taken care of some really, really, really sick people, but they've all recovered. We're very thankful and appreciative that we have not had any deaths in Reno County and we certainly pray that's going to continue."
Total admissions throughout the pandemic, according to the Reno County dashboard as of early Friday stand at 12, with 4 currently in the hospital. Seven of those 12 have been admitted to the ICU and 4 have been on ventilators thus far.
"The one interesting part of this disease is how quickly it can progress," said Chuck Welch, Vice President of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System. "People need to come in when they are sick, first start with their doctor and then he will guide you along that process, but don't wait."
Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System touts itself as a COVID-safe environment.
"If you think about the airport, when you go through airport screening and you get on the other side of TSA, that is a safe environment," Welch said. "You've been screened for weapons or anything that would be harmful to the people on the other side. It's similar in the hospital. We make sure we take a history, a temperature and make sure that they are safe to enter that hospital. That doesn't mean that it's perfect, but there is measures of safety installed to keep everybody on the other side of the screening stations safe."
Currently, there is a one visitor at a time policy in the hospital and those visitors must be screened as they come in.