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'This is a huge strain on our hospitals right now.' | Leaders from Maine's largest health systems make plea to public

“We have almost as many patients in ICU beds across the state of Maine currently as we did during our peak last January," Dr. Joan Boomsma said.

MAINE, USA — Leaders from Northern Light Health, MaineHealth, Central Maine Healthcare, and MaineGeneral Health came together Thursday for a press conference to discuss the strain hospitals are experiencing amidst a rise in cases of the COVID-19 delta variant in the state.

Participating in the press conference were:

  • James Jarvis, MD (Northern Light Health)
  • Joan Boomsma, MD (MaineHealth)
  • Steven Diaz, MD, FAAFP, FACEP (MaineGeneral Health)
  • John Alexander, MD, MHCM, FACEP (Central Maine Healthcare)

All four stressed the importance of taking the steps necessary to stay safe during this pandemic, including masking, getting vaccinated, physical distancing, and proper hand hygiene. 

Hospitals in Maine are feeling the stress of finding enough beds for patients, not all of whom have COVID. But as more COVID patients need treatment, it becomes more difficult to find space for all patients, COVID or non-COVID.

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“We have almost as many patients in ICU beds across the state of Maine currently as we did during our peak last January," Boomsma said. "But it’s not just our ICUs. Our hospital beds are full. I think it’s a combination of seasonal increases, along with the increased volumes of COVID patients and staffing shortages.”

“Every day across MaineHealth, and I know my colleagues see some of the same, we are holding patients in our ERs because there are no beds to put them in,” she added. " . . . This is having a huge strain on our hospitals right now and we just don’t want to be in a position where we can’t provide the kind of care, COVID or non-COVID, that our neighbors and communities need.”

Diaz said MaineGeneral Health sees similar strain.

“Our hospital is full. And it’s not due to acute COVID cases, but we’re full. Because the COVID pandemic has affected our ability to have partners who take our hospitalized patients to have beds open in nursing homes and others. So, everything is just chalk full," he said. "And then upstream from that is the emergency departments. The patients there have nowhere to go, so our ERs are overfull. And then adding to that is the pandemic has also heightened those with behavioral health needs."

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When asked about Maine's vaccine mandate for health care workers and how it may affect staffing shortages, Boomsma said MaineHealth already sees staffing shortages due to employees contracting the virus themselves.

“With the very high rates of community transmission in Maine, part of our shortages is that we are losing staff because they’re infected with COVID," Boomsma said. "So, right now, we’re losing them to the virus not to the vaccine.”

Diaz said MaineGeneral Health has also been feeling the workforce shortage, even before the mandate was issued.

According to Jarvis, Northern Light Health has a blueprint for an alternative care site if they cannot support the number of patients in their hospitals. However, it would also require staffing that he said they don't have right now.

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"We don't want to do that," Jarvis said. "We want to do everything we can to take care of people in the best locations possible, which is our hospitals across the state of Maine."

Something the doctors made very clear during the press conference is that the virus is not going anywhere, and people must step up and take proper precautions to protect themselves and others if they want the pandemic to slow down because it won't slow down on its own.

“The way out of a global pandemic is not one special thing," Diaz said. "The way out of a global pandemic, from a public health perspective, is we have to do everything until we see the numbers get better and we have some sort of ability to understand how this virus acts.”

“Viruses are as varied as there are mammals," he added. "So, just because we know how the flu acts, we can’t assume that we’re going to know how COVID-19 acts or will evolve over time.”

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