Staff At Mahaska Health “We’re Doing Well”
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Chief Medical Officer Tim Breon was finishing up some charts on Friday night when he took a few minutes to talk with Oskaloosa News.
“Really, we’re doing well,” explained Breon of the hospital as a whole. “I think we prepared early on in March for all this. I think those preparations really helped us a lot here.”
“The big difference is that we see the importance of trying to stay open,” says Breon of taking care of both COVID and non-COVID patients.
The shutdown early in the year was a learning experience for the hospital and the staff. It taught them that shutting off those services also negatively impacted non-COVID-19 patients and caused problems for the patients and staff in the long run.
“I think our community as a whole does a pretty good job, and so we see the benefits of that,” said Breon. “I think we have days that we’re really busy, but we’re able to manage that.”
“We’re full frequently, even without COVID,” said Breon of the hospital’s capacity. Even during those busy times, the hospital is doing all it can to keep patients and staff healthy.
The hospital, like almost all places, continues to struggle with getting enough testing ability. “We provide tests for people that we feel like need to have it for their own benefit, but not just because somebody comes and wants one. We can’t do that. We’d like the community to understand that we’re not a testing site.”
Breon then suggested using resources like Test Iowa if you want to be tested.
When it comes to the hospitals around the state, Breon believes the real struggle comes down to having enough staff. “We have plenty of staff we can rotate around as needed. We’ve got a lot of providers, more than we’ve had in the past, so we’re kind of shuffling those around.”
Breon encouraged everyone to mask up. “One person can contaminate ten people pretty easily, and if that’s carried over, that can make a mess of the community.”
“[What] I would add to that, is that we have the added experience of knowing that when you wear masks, it’s really hard to get COVID, and if you don’t wear a mask, it’s easy to get COVID,” Breon said, using his own experience of wearing a mask every day.
“If you look around right now compared to three weeks ago, a lot more people are wearing masks right now,” Breon said. “I think people are finally getting it that we have to do something because our numbers are pretty high.”
Breon also wanted to ensure that people know that the hospital is a safe place to come and be treated. “We’ve got a process that’s been working here.”
