In times like these our health care workers prepare to do what no one else wants to — show up to work

This week millions of Americans are waking up at home and staying there. They may be logging on to their computers to work remotely, or brainstorming new ways to entertain their children. In the sea of unknown we’re all swimming in, there is one group of people who are still getting out of bed each day and showing up despite the risk — health care workers.

For weeks our local health system has been preparing for the arrival of COVID-19 and all that comes with it. Protocols for managing a surge of patients and discussions about inventory and planning for personal protective equipment have been at the forefront of leadership planning meetings. Our local health care agencies are ready and prepared to care for these patients and are now trying to maintain and preserve their most vital resource — their employees.

“The COVID-19 virus may present us with an unprecedented health care challenge in our region,” said Robert Scoggins, M.D., pulmonary disease specialist and medical director of Kootenai Health Critical Care department. “We have never been faced with the possibility of needing to care for such a large volume of critically ill patients. We hope we don’t see the predicted numbers of patients requiring critical care services, but we have to prepare for the worst. The determination and willingness to face this challenge by our nurses, staff and physicians has been amazing. While the next few months will present unexpected challenges, the dedication to serve our community is evident in the health care community.”

With the imminent spread of COVID-19 to our community looming, it is important for us non-clinical folks to be good community partners to our health care community.

Follow Directions

Kootenai Health, Panhandle Health District, and the CDC are actively pushing out information to help the public know how to prevent the spread of illness, and what to do if you get sick. Follow these guidelines and if you have any doubt about what to do, call the Health District’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-877-415-5225.

Keep Calm, Have Patience

Kootenai County already has a health system experiencing growing pains. Adding a large influx of patients in need of screening and COVID-19 testing, and preparing for a possible surge of patients needing to be hospitalized puts extra pressure on the staff caring for these individuals.

To help prevent spreading the virus and conserve much-needed medical supplies, many clinics are rescheduling patients for a later date and surgical centers are beginning to cancel elective procedures. In a time when nothing is business as usual, patience and flexibility are two traits we can all embrace a bit more.

“Unfortunately, this virus doesn’t discriminate and is easily transmitted. We decided to close our pulmonary clinic to patient visits this week due to the risk to our vulnerable patient population, staff and physicians,” Dr. Scoggins said. “Also, at this time, our physicians are needed to staff the critical care units and plan for possibly caring for three times the number of critically ill patients our facility is currently designed to care for. We are doing the best to answer calls from patients, take care of emergent and urgent problems and developing a process to see patients by telemedicine. Almost all providers in the community are trying to tackle these same issues that the new reality of COVID-19 presents. We ask the community join the health care system in combating this virus because the more the community slows the virus by social distancing and staying healthy, the better we will be able to care for those the virus affects most.”

Educate Yourself

Use the right resources to learn about COVID-19 and how to take care of yourself. Visit cdc.gov/covid19 or call Panhandle Health District’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-877-415-5225.