Hospital boss needs your help to stop surge in cases that 'would exceed our capacity'

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DAVID: YOU’VE SEEN THE MESSAGE TRENDING ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND WE’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT HERE ON TV -- WE NEED TO FLATTEN THE CURVE. IT’S WHY VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING IS SHUTTING DOWN ACROSS OMAHA AND THE NATION. IT MIGHT BE INCONVENIENT, BUT ONE HOSPITAL BOSS TELLS ME THE ALTERNATIVE IS MUCH, MUCH WORSE. JIM LINDER: MODELS WOULD SUGGEST IF WE HAVE A REAL SURGE IN CASES, WITHIN TWO TO THREE WEEKS, OUR CAPACITY WOULD BE EXCEEDED. DAVID: DOCTOR JIM LINDER, THE CEO AT NEBRASKA MEDICINE, IS DEADLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS DEADLY NEW VIRUS. THE OMAHA HOSPITAL IS MOVING PATIENTS AROUND AND ADDING INTENSIVE CARE BEDS, BUT THERE’S ONLY SO MUCH ROOM. JIM LINDER: IN THE STATE OF NEBRASKA, THERE’S A LITTLE UNDER 5,000 HOSPITAL BEDS FOR THE TREATMENT OF ADULTS. AND THAT COULD QUICKLY BE EXCEEDED BY THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS WHO NEED HOSPITALIZATION. -- WHO MIGHT NEED DAVID: YOU SEE IT IN OTHER COMMUNITIES IN THE U.S. WHICH DID NOT ACT FAST TO FLATTEN THE CURVE. IN SEATTLE AND NEW YORK, THEY’RE SWAMPED. JIM LINDER: SO IF THAT HAPPENS IN NEBRASKA, WE HAVE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO NEED TO BE HOSPITALIZED OR NEED INTENSIVE CARE, IT WOULD EXCEED OUR CAPACITY. AND IF THAT HAPPENS, THE DOCTOR EXPLAINS HOW CARE BECOMES GRIM. -- DAVID: AND IF THAT HAPPENS, THE DOCTOR EXPLAINS HOW CARE BECOMES GRIM. JIM LINDER: WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IS WHAT YOU’RE SEEING IN ITALY, WHERE DECISIONS HAVE TO BE MADE OF WHO GETS HEALTH CARE AND WHO DOESN’T, AND THERE’S ALMOST A DAILY DOES -- ALMOST A PALLIATIVE CARE FOR PEOPLE WHO MIGHT BE OVER 65. WE DON’T WANT TO DO THAT. WE WANT EVERYONE INDEPENDENT OF THEIR AGE GETTING THE BEST CARE POSSIBLE. DAVID: SO WHAT DOES THE HOSPITAL BOSS NEED FROM YOU? HE NEEDS YOU TO TAKE THE ADVICE ABOUT GROUP SIZE SERIOUSLY. AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT’S THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THE VIRUS JIM LINDER: IF THERE’S NOT ANOTHER PERSON AROUND FOR THAT VIRUS TO GO INTO, THE OUTBREAK STOPS. DAVID: SO IN ADDITION TO ALL THE MASS CANCELLATIONS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN OUR COMMUNITY, HERE’S HOW ELSE WE CAN FLATTEN THE CURVE -- WASH YOUR HANDS FOR AT LEAST 20 SECONDS FREQUENTLY, WORK FROM HOME IF YOU CAN, AND KEEP THAT SOCIAL DISTANCE. THOSE SIX FEET BETWEEN YOU AND THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU CAN LITERALLY BE WHAT KEEPS OUR HOSPITALS FROM OVERFLOWING

Advertisement Hospital boss needs your help to stop surge in cases that 'would exceed our capacity' Nebraska Medicine CEO Dr. James Linder explains why mass closures and other efforts to #FlattenTheCurve are critical in weeks ahead Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The boss at one of Omaha's biggest hospitals needs your help.Nebraska Medicine chief executive Dr. James Linder drew headlines over the weekend as he painted a real picture of Nebraska's hospital capacity before a severe COVID-19 outbreak hits the state.He was blunt."Most of the hospitals in our community are 'full' as I type this," he wrote in a blog post published Saturday.Since then, mass cancelations have set it. And that's a good thing, Linder, a pathologist by training, explains."If there's not another person around for that virus to go into the outbreak stops," he explained in a KETV NewsWatch 7 interview Monday.So efforts underway to #FlattenTheCurve are critical as Nebraska Medicine and other local hospitals are bracing for an onslaught of patients who need acute treatment from the virus. Limiting group settings to 10 or fewer people, working from home if you can, canceling nonessential travel, washing your hands frequently and maintaining a six-foot social distance from other people will help blunt the spread of COVID-19.If the community doesn't participate, care could look grim. Linder said look to Italy or even New York and Seattle.Read a profile of three UNMC and Nebraska Medicine professionals on the front lines of the COVID-19 coronavirus fight from our Hearst partners at Esquire."Decisions have to be made of who gets health care and who doesn't, and so there's almost palliative care for people who might be over 65," he said. "We don't want to do that, we want everyone, independent of their age, getting the best care possible."Linder ran the numbers locally.In Nebraska there are a little under 5,000 hospital beds to treat adults, he said. The estimates he's looking at show 5 out of every 100 COVID-19 patients will need to be hospitalized. Over two months in Nebraska, that's between 30,000 and 90,000 additional hospitalizations, Linder writes. "Models would suggest if we have a real surge in cases within two to three weeks, our capacity would be exceeded," Linder said.Linder said Nebraska Medicine is doing what it can to get ready for a rush. The hospital is moving patients around to create more space and increasing the number of intensive care patient beds it has.Still, there's only so much room."Every person, no matter their age, plays an important role in flattening the curve," Linder said. "A young person who may not feel terrible from the virus can transmit it to someone who may be vulnerable."So while some may view the next few weeks and months of called-off events and take out food as inconvenient, consider the alternative: your local hospitals overflowing and older patients being left to die.Linder said that reality is much, much worse.