Hospitals cautious about space, employee health

EDINBURG — The unknowns of what healthcare workers were dealing with in a new strain of the flu outweighed any bright spots they could find last spring.

But in hindsight, the first round of the H1N1 strain of the flu may not have come at a better time, said Dr. Fausto Meza, an administrator at Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance.

When the virus hit the Rio Grande Valley in late April, the height of flu season had already passed two months before. Many Winter Texans — a significant part of the Rio Grande Valley’s population during flu season and a group more susceptible to the seasonal flu than other residents — had returned home.

With better information in hand, Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance has hosted weekly meetings with its staff to prepare them for the flu season.

They’ve increased an inventory of masks, gloves and other medical equipment, and they listened closely to recommendations put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"In the spring, it came upon us unknown," Fauza said. "The CDC was trying to figure it out, and we didn’t have all the information. The biggest benefit is really preparation."

The presence of H1N1 this spring has prompted hospitals to be extra vigilant as they prepare for the upcoming flu season.

In a normal flu season, healthcare workers encounter the seasonal flu that affects up to 20 percent of the population, but they enter this season concerned about a combination of the common seasonal flu and the strain of swine flu with no immunity for the population.

An H1N1 vaccine will be released in mid-October that should help limit the spread of H1N1, but the first doses are available only for targeted populations, such as children, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions.

Most U.S. residents — namely, healthy adults — won’t have access to the H1N1 vaccine until early next year.

If enough people become sick enough to be hospitalized before there is a vaccine, a major concern is having enough beds for the patients, said Noel Garcia, the EMS director for Starr County Memorial Hospital.

His hospital purchased tents it can use to supplement the space inside as a triage center where doctors or nurses can check people with influenza-like symptoms before referring them inside.

The hospital or any others with an influx of patients can also use inflatable tents that the Metropolitan Medical Response System obtained this year.

He said his hospital is asking local physicians to be on call for emergency help at the hospital if the number of patients who need to be hospitalized overwhelms its staff.

Keeping health care workers who are on the front lines healthy has been a primary part in preparations for this flu pandemic, said Kay Vogel, the South Texas Health System’s director of quality infection control and trauma.

Health care workers are one of the target groups with first access to the H1N1 vaccine when it’s available in October.

They have access to the vaccine first because they have more contact with sick people than others but also because hospitals don’t need their own staff members out ill if they’re dealing with a pandemic-type situation, Vogel said. South Texas Health Systems has monitored the health of all employees and when they call in sick since April.

The hospital recommends all employees follow personal hygiene guidelines and use protective gear like masks when needed.

Swine flu hasn’t been any deadlier than the seasonal flu even though it has lingered this summer and continued to affect people at a time when there are few traces of the seasonal flu.

Vogel expects a second wave of swine flu to hit his county this year. But unlike the first one, she said they know what they’re dealing with this time.

"Everybody learned from the episode at the start of April," she said. "We’ve come a long way in preparing for this season."