Hospital sees
unusually high number of flu cases
PRESQUE ISLE — The Aroostook Medical Center’s A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital in Presque Isle continues to respond to the severity and widespread nature of the influenza outbreak in Aroostook County.
On Monday, all non-essential surgeries were postponed so staff could help in other areas of the hospital and the Giberson Day Surgery Center was reserved for an overflow of patients from the Emergency Department.
“We’ve seen an increasing number of individuals presenting influenza and flu-like symptoms, and as a result, our Emergency Department and the inpatient units in our hospital have been very busy,” said Sylvia Getman, TAMC president and chief executive officer. “Over the weekend and into the start of the new week, we instituted measures to ensure that we meet the needs of our patients over the next several days.”
Early last Friday evening, TAMC established a command center to respond to the high volume of patients in the Emergency Department. Additional staff and resources were mobilized to help meet the demand.
Among the measures taken was to use the Day Surgery facility, near the Emergency Department, as a secondary location to treat patients presenting at the ED on Saturday and again on Monday. TAMC also extended weekend hours at its North Street Healthcare Walk-In Care on both Saturday and Sunday.
“The most impressive part of the response is how the TAMC team came together to meet the needs of our patients. Both clinical and non-clinical staff really went above and beyond,” said Roland Joy, TAMC vice president of patient care services, chief nursing officer and command center lead over the weekend. “They should be commended for their great work.”
On average, TAMC has seen a sustained high of 50 to 60 patients each day for the past two weeks in its Emergency Department. Another 45-50 patients are being treated daily at TAMC’s walk-in facility at North Street Healthcare. The same trend is being seen in primary care provider offices at TAMC health centers in Fort Fairfield, Caribou, Ashland and Mars Hill.
With a fair number of patients seeking treatment requiring admission, TAMC’s A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital has been at or near capacity for a month. Throughout that period and especially over the past weekend, TAMC officials were keeping themselves apprised of what other area hospitals they might be able to transfer inpatients to due to the surge.
“About 40 percent of all ED patients seen in recent weeks have had virus-like syndromes. Our admission rates are unchanged at about 20 percent,” said Daryl Boucher, TAMC director of emergency services. “We kept our eye on bed availability throughout Aroostook County and the state all weekend, particularly on Friday night. Volume is high everywhere, and thankfully, we were able to find beds for the majority of our patients in our own hospital.”
In addition to influenza, TAMC has seen several suspected cases of norovirus, an illness that causes stomach discomfort and vomiting for 24 hours. The best way to prevent the spread of influenza, norovirus and other illnesses is to wash your hands with soap and water, and when that isn’t possible, to use hand sanitizer.
Another measure being taken by TAMC officials in the wake of the influenza outbreak in Aroostook County is to recommend its employees wear protective masks. TAMC is also recommending visitors to the hospital do the same and has made masks available for patients and visitors at public entrances to its facilities throughout central Aroostook County.
“We are taking this precautionary measure to protect both our staff and our patients,” said Dr. Jay Reynolds, TAMC’s chief medical officer and chief operating officer. “Because of the number and severity of flu cases we have seen over the past couple of weeks, we feel this is the appropriate measure to take at this point.”
The recommendation to move forward with requesting employees wear masks was made by Jennifer Tweedie, TAMC’s infection prevention coordinator. Tweedie has been monitoring both the number of confirmed flu cases and the numbers of patients presenting flu-like symptoms at TAMC’s emergency department, walk-in clinic and health centers.
“TAMC has seen an influx of patients being cared for with influenza-like illnesses. Our emergency department and walk-in clinic have been inundated with large numbers of patients presenting with varying degrees of respiratory illnesses,” said Tweedie.
Although Tweedie cites that just over 100 lab-confirmed cases of influenza have been reported at TAMC since the beginning of December, she cautions the number is deceiving.
“Though this is a large number, it is not necessarily representative of what we are truly seeing at TAMC or in Aroostook County as a whole,” she said. “Many people who are ill do not seek care and treat their symptoms from home. Also, because of the known cases in our area, providers will treat patients for flu based on their symptoms without obtaining the actual laboratory test.
“We feel it is important to do everything within our power to keep our patients and staff as healthy as possible during this flu season,” said Tweedie. “By recommending our staff wear a mask and providing masks to community members visiting our organization, it is our hope that we will decrease the spread of illness during this flu season.”
Among the measures TAMC continues to take to help mitigate the spread of the flu is to offer influenza vaccine. Officials say it is not too late for individuals to get vaccinated this year. TAMC encourages community members who have not been vaccinated to contact their primary care physician.
TAMC officials will continue to monitor the situation to determine when to lift the mask recommendation.
