A woman in Nashville, Tennessee, had difficulty breathing due to a serious illness and required surgery. She claimed that because the hospital was overcrowded with COVID-19 patients, the surgery was delayed for a month or more.
Betsy Phillips, writer Nashville scene Political blog “Melting in the Wind”, Write on tuesday She recently received a phone call informing her that her planned surgery this week had been postponed due to violent criticism from patients at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“I will not have surgery this week,” Phillips wrote. “The hospital is crowded with COVID patients, and the operating room is closing so that staff can handle COVID patients-most of the unvaccinated patients. My surgery may be rescheduled in October, depending on COVID.”
Phillips, 47, has “granulomatosis caused by histoplasmosis infection,” she explained in an email Weekly newspaper.
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“Basically, I have a bunch of lumps on my chest and neck. A particularly large lump is right next to my trachea. Sometimes, depending on how I move or whether I move, it makes me difficult to breathe,” Phillips explained . “This is the second time I have affected my breathing, so it is very painful.”
Phillips has been suffering from these symptoms for eight months and should have surgery last Friday to relieve her breathing difficulties. “I really hope to feel better,” she told Weekly newspaper.
COVID-19 cases have surged in Tennessee, the proportion of unvaccinated patients is particularly high, and there are no statewide regulations for indoor masks. This combination puts pressure on the overburdened hospital system, which is struggling to take care of the majority of unvaccinated COVID patients and patients with other medical problems.
As in hospitals across the country, when ICU beds and hospital resources are saturated, doctors and administrators have to make difficult decisions to postpone the so-called “selective” surgery.
Brian Cole, director of surgery at Rush Oak Park Hospital, told Advisory.com that the term “selective” simply refers to any operation that is not an absolute emergency to “sustain life or limb.”
According to recent data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of September 6, only 42% of Tennessee residents were fully vaccinated, lagging behind the rest of the country, where 53% of residents were fully vaccinated and 63% of residents were fully vaccinated. The person has at least one dose of the vaccine. prevention(CDC) data.
Especially at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the latest data released on Tuesday showed that 218 COVID patients were admitted to the hospital in the past 7 days, 87% of whom were not vaccinated. The statistics include a note that “most” hospitalized vaccinated patients also have potential immune compromise problems.
