A receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Houston Methodist West Hospital on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 in Katy.
Brayan Lopez, center, watches registered nurse Osmani Driggs, right, pass her a vaccination card before receiving a COVID-19 vaccine at Houston Methodist West Hospital on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 in Katy.
Dianelys Gonzalez, left, watches her son, Benny Lopez, leave a vaccination room where he won a COVID-19 vaccine at Houston Methodist West Hospital on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 in Katy.
Bennyel Lopez, left, receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Houston Methodist West Hospital on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 in Katy.
A fitness professional walks through a waiting domain for others who won covid-19 vaccinations at Houston Methodist West Hospital on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 in Katy.
Local hospitals are restricting visitors and contemplating the reinstatement of other cutting-edge pandemic policies amid a new wave of COVID-19 cases.
And while no hospital in the region has yet limited elective surgeries, there are fears that hospitals will be overwhelmed by an influx of COVID-19 patients and others seeking medical care that was postponed at the height of the pandemic.
More than 5,600 Texians have recently been hospitalized for COVID, and the state on Wednesday recorded another 10,082 cases shown, the highest number for any of the measures since February, according to a Chronicle investigation of state fitness data.
On Thursday, Texas Children’s Hospital limited outpatient visits to a single parent or caretaker number one, and banned visits to children under the age of 18, adding the patient’s siblings.
Meanwhile, hospitalized patients can approve two parent or number one caregivers as visitors, only one can do so at a time.
Last week, memorial Hermann followed new regulations restricting the maximum number of patients to one adult guest according to the day, with the exception of pediatric patients, who are allowed two parents or guardians according to the day.
Patients in labor, postpartum and antepardum at Memorial Hermann are also allowed two adults according to the day, one of whom can spend the night.
Family members can also access other people in palliative or supportive care, Memorial Hermann said.
Citing a delta variant and low vaccination rates, the University of Texas medical branch on Monday banned COVID patients, limited medical and surgical patients to one, masked guest and reduced visiting hours between five and eight o’clock at night. also closed toArray
The UTMB has also opened a control site at the Primary Care Pavilion in Galveston, and the effects will take place within 24 hours.
“We have noticed an increased concern about the number of COVID patients in all of our hospitals,” Executive Director Gulshan Sharma said in a statement. “As doctors and nurses, we have noticed this before and we know how to treat our patients more productively, but we also want our network for ourselves. “
Meanwhile, Texas Medical Center has allowed two visitors for up to a maximum of patients since June 1, all of whom will be required to wear masks and be screened for COVID symptoms upon arrival.
Medical center amenities also allow for a “support person” for COVID-19 patients or other people with disabilities, as long as the guest passes a screening check and wears protective equipment when visiting COVID patients.
Baylor St. Luke’s continues to ban COVID patients and has limited non-COVID patients to an adult guest according to the day at its Texas Medical Center facility.
Houston Methodist Hospital on Monday limited policies for inpatients and those on-site for medical appointments to a “healthy” guest according to the day. Patients in labor and delivery are entitled to two guests, one of whom would possibly spend the night if he or she is over 18.
Houston Methodist also allows a user to accompany those who are vaccinated at Methodist vaccination sites, who have noticed a marked increase in call-up as COVID instances continue to increase across the state.
Dr. Charles Lehrner, a member of the state’s COVID-19 task force, said he wouldn’t be surprised to see more hospitals close as cases, especially those of the delta variant, continue to skyrocket across the state.
He said the number of other people in Texas hospitals is developing at a pace not seen since the first wave of COVID cases in the spring of 2020.
“When you look at the number of developing cases, you have to be waiting for what the long term will bring,” he said. “And unless other people start getting vaccinated at a very different rate than they do now, we’ll see more other people in hospitals. It’s just a logical conclusion.
These setbacks can have prospective consequences for patients.
Last year, researchers at Ohio State University looked at the effects of another 117 people who had recently undergone surgery within the limits of hospital visitors due to COVID.
They found that those who did not get visitors also reported high degrees of dissatisfaction with their hospital care, were more likely to later spread psychosocial disorders such as anxiety and depression, and were less prepared when they were discharged from the hospital.
Allyson Sampey said she felt “strange” waking up her mother from surgery to convince her.
A serious and redeemed man with Guillain-Barré syndrome had already forced the 37-year-old Houstonian to relearn how to walk last year. Then, in February, Sampey fractured his ankle in 3 locations, requiring surgery at HCA Houston Healthcare in Tomball, which at the time banned its Houston-area facilities as much as possible.
“It’s very when you’re alone there and you can’t see or hear the other people nearby,” he said. “He feels isolated.
robert. downen@chron. com
As COVID rates soar and a wave of RSV in summer fills hospitals, pediatrician Christina Propst describes “a storm of the best. “