Kaweah Delta and Sierra View share crisis care guidelines publicly
Kaweah Delta Medical Center and Sierra View Medical Center share crisis
care guidelines publicly
VISALIA – As California experiences an unprecedented and exponential
surge in COVID-19 cases, Kaweah Delta and Sierra View have joined together
to share how they would triage, limit, or ration care in the event of
a declared state of emergency.
The plans were posted on hospital websites on Jan. 6 as mandated by the
California Department of Public Health (CDPH) in All Facilities Letter
AFL 20-91. CDPH mandated that all facilities
publicly post one of the following on their websites: their own crisis care continuum
guidelines, another facility's guidelines, or the State's California
Crisis Care Continuum Guidelines.
“While it is our responsibility as a healthcare facility to plan
for these types of scenarios, the hope is that we never have to use them,”
said Gary Herbst, Chief Executive Officer of Kaweah Delta, the largest
acute care hospital in Tulare County and the only level III trauma center
from Bakersfield to Fresno. “Our goal, no matter the circumstance,
will always be to save as many lives as possible, in a coordinated and
compassionate way, regardless of race, disability, sex, gender identity,
socioeconomic status, age, sexual orientation or immigration status.”
Kaweah Delta’s policy, posted
HERE, was created in April and adopted by its Board of Directors in May. It
is consistent with existing recommendations for how to provide care when
resources are scarce during a public health emergency. “As this
pandemic continues, we will remain in daily contact with the State, our
public health department, and other hospitals in Tulare County,”
Herbst said. “Together, our goal is that in a declared state of
emergency, we would be able to provide healthcare in a way that is coordinated
and compassionate.”
In response to the increasingly overwhelming current surge, Sierra View
is utilizing the California State SARS-CoV-2 Crisis Care Guidelines as
it lays out the essential framework to help best protect the health of
the community. Crisis care is not a separate triage plan but rather a
part of the care continuum. It is an extension of the hospital’s
surge-capacity plan, which addresses the ability to manage a sudden influx
of patients, and its surge capability – the ability to manage patients
requiring very specialized medical care.
The CDPH guidelines do not replace the judgment of Sierra View’s
operational management, medical directors, legal advisors, or clinical
staff, or consideration of other relevant variables and options. The purpose
of California State SARS-CoV-2 Crisis Care Guidelines are to provide information
to support Sierra View operations. Sierra View’s policy and guidelines
can be found
HERE.
“We stand in solidarity with our fellow Tulare County hospitals as
we face the current unprecedented Covid surge in our hospitals and with
the expected holiday surge that is yet to come,” stated Dr. Hudson-Covolo,
SVMC Chief Nurse Executive. “We are in frequent communication with
the Tulare County Public Health Department leadership, as well as the
Bakersfield CDPH Field Director. Should we need to advance to crisis care,
we will work together, jointly to provide care to our best abilities using
the framework guidelines provided by the State of California.”