How busy are Thurston County’s hospitals? Councilman shares troubling data
Providence St. Peter Hospital and Capital Medical Center are busy places. Just ask Lacey City Councilman, Lenny Greenstein, who also serves on the Thurston County Emergency Medical Services/Medic One council.
Lacey City Council members serve on other boards and commissions throughout the county. One of Greenstein’s duties is to attend Medic One meetings, then report back to the council about what he has learned.
He delivered some sobering news Thursday about the county’s two busy hospitals.
“We have a serious issue going on here countywide and up and down the I-5 corridor,” Greenstein told the council.
Greenstein said Providence has a 46-bed emergency room, but currently is operating at 96 beds, with 50 of those beds in hallways. Capital Medical Center’s emergency room is also operating at slightly above capacity, he said.
“We have run into a situation the last few months where an ambulance shows up to the hospital and it takes up to four hours to transport a patient from the ambulance into the hospital,” he said. That keeps the ambulance off the road for that long.
Greenstein said some Medic One employees are now working at the hospital and tending to patients until the hospital staff is ready to see the patients. That way the ambulance can get back into service faster, he said.
The Medic One system integrates 12 independent fire departments, two ambulance companies, hundreds of EMS providers and two hospitals, The Olympian reported.
Providence spokesman Chris Thomas acknowledged last week that Providence has seen increases in emergency room visits, in the number of people who have to be admitted to the hospital from the emergency room, and in acuity levels, meaning the hospital is seeing sicker patients, he told The Olympian.
Thomas said some of the increase can be attributed to patients who delayed their care during the worst of the pandemic.
“I want people to be aware of the situation we have with medical care right now because it really is reaching a crisis,” Greenstein said.
He thinks the solution is another medical destination.
“Long-term we’re in need of another hospital in this community,” he said.
This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
