TONASKET, Wash. — Like other healthcare facilities impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, Tonasket's North Valley Hospital has recently been dealing with rising patient numbers and fluctuating employee levels.
Unlike larger hospitals, however, staff at North Valley know there's a higher chance they could be treating someone they know for COVID-19.
"You're taking care of, literally, your friends, family, and neighbors," hospital CEO John McReynolds told KREM during an interview in early December. "So that's good, but it also can be really challenging sometimes."
The small non-profit critical access hospital in the rural city of just over 1,100 typically has a census of around just six patients, according to McReynolds. Over the last couple of days, though, North Valley's patient count was as high as 14. As of Monday, the hospital had nine patients.
"For a small rural facility, it doesn't take many patients to be much more than normal," McReynolds said in an email to KREM on Monday.
Additionally, McReynolds described hospital functions has being stressed due to staff members being unable to come into work because of coronavirus.
"Over the weekend we had to go on diversion, which means we would not admit patients until our staffing situation improved," wrote McReynolds.
If a person were to come to the ER, they would be sent elsewhere, he explained.
Earlier in the pandemic, critically ill COVID-19 patients from Tonasket were being sent to hospitals in larger cities such as Wenatchee, McReynolds said. In an effort to help overall hospital capacity, McReynolds said in early December that North Valley was taking steps to be able to admit coronavirus patients.
Three weeks later, the hospital is currently treating four people who have tested positive for coronavirus.
"Regional capacity is something we are watching closely, and ICU beds are a particular concern," McReynolds said on Monday.
Prior to admitting COVID-19 patients this month, a neighboring extended care facility operated by the North Valley Hospital District witnessed a coronavirus outbreak that resulted in 12 deaths.
"Any time an ambulance comes up to our ER, there's a chance that people working are going to know who's in that ambulance," McReynolds said. "That's what is unique and special about a rural area, is that you have that close-knit community, and you have that connection to the people that you live with."
As North Valley continues to deal with positive COVID-19 tests and staff members in quarantine, McReynolds issued a plea to those in Tonasket.
"I would really encourage everyone to think about the role that they can play in preventing the spread of COVID," he said.
"If the ICU is full of COVID patients and you fall off a horse or get in a car accident, it does matter that you wore a mask or that you are COVID-free. It is going to directly impact you," wrote McReynolds on Monday. "We have a hospital system that has limits, we are here to help you, and that's what we will do. But anything that can be done to make sure there are beds available and people to provide that care is critically important."
As of last week, North Valley was the only facility in Okanogan County that had received doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, according to McReynolds. The hospital had so far distributed 217 doses.
"We feel very lucky to have gotten the vaccine as early as we did," McReynolds said.