By Ruth Brown, Idaho Reports
Idaho Reports will air a live special Thursday featuring medical experts from around the state to discuss the recent coronavirus surge and hospital capacity at 8 p.m., Sept. 9.
The special, called “The Consequences of Crisis Care,” comes after two public health districts in Idaho reached crisis standards of care on Tuesday. The show will air on Idaho Public Television’s Idaho Channel and be livestreamed on the IdahoPTV YouTube channel.
Idaho Reports host Melissa Davlin will be joined Thursday by representatives from Idaho hospitals to discuss the impact crisis standards have on all patients in need of health care, not just coronavirus patients.
Crisis standards of care are only declared when a hospital or health system reaches a last resort and no longer has the resources to treat every patient in need of care.
The declaration this week impacts ten hospitals and health systems in Idaho, including major hospitals in Coeur d’Alene and Lewiston, that are suffering from an increase in the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
Nearly all hospitalized COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated.
Under crisis standards of care, health care providers will be forced to prioritize patients who are in the most emergent need of care and those who are the most likely to survive. The standard sets up a framework for health care workers to prioritize how to use resources and who to help first.
You can watch our previous special, “Hospitals in Crisis,” here.
So far, Idaho hospitals and healthcare systems impacted by crisis standards of care are:
Panhandle Health District (PHD1)
Benewah Community Hospital
Bonner General Hospital
Boundary Community Hospital
Kootenai Health
Shoshone Medical Center
North Central Public Health District (PHD2)
Clearwater Valley Hospital and Clinics
Gritman Medical Center
St. Joseph Regional Medical Center
St. Mary’s Hospitals & Clinics
Syringa Hospital & Clinics
