COVID-19 CRISIS

At field hospital, beds ready - and hopefully never needed

Posted

Kathy Nottell, 68, retired as a nurse from Kent Hospital five years ago.

Now, with the state ready to open two field hospitals in preparation of a surge in coronavirus cases, she knows she can be of help.

She could not watch idly as the crisis unfolds, and when Dean Carlson, Kent’s senior human resources director, approached her, she volunteered to go back to work.

It’s a decision she didn’t make lightly, but she said Tuesday she and her husband are in good health, as is the rest of her family.

“I have concerns. I’m very aware of self-protection,” she said in an interview. She added that if she is diligent with self-protection and care, “I’ll be OK. I’ll do the best I can do.”

Staffing of the field hospitals was one of the issues Shannon Sullivan, Kent Hospital’s vice president of operations, touched upon in an exchange of emails leading up to media tours of the field hospitals at the Rhode Island Convention Center and the former Citizens Banks building on Sockanosset Cross Road in Cranston Tuesday afternoon.

A third field hospital capable of housing 500 beds is ready to be built out at the closed Lowe’s at Quonset. Like the hospital in Cranston, the Quonset hospital would be operated by Care New England.

Sullivan said members of the Kent staff have offered to work at the Cranston field hospital, and Kent is also reaching out to retirees like Nottell as well as welcoming volunteers.

“We review, based on skill set, whether they are best utilized in the hospital or at the field hospital,” Sullivan explained.

A resident of the Greenwood section of Warwick, Nottell – who plans to work two days a week – will find a different environment than Kent.

Sullivan guided a tour of the Cranston field hospital, which has three wards with a total of 335 beds. She said the 123,000-square-foot former Citizens Bank office could be expanded by another 200 to 300 beds if necessary.

DiMeo Construction transformed the former office space, which required the creation of a negative pressure environment for containment, copper tubing for oxygen lines to each of the pods, re-flooring plus a myriad other renovations, over the last three weeks.

Dr. James Fanale, president and CEO of Care New England, lauded the work of his team, naming Sullivan and Dr. Laura Forman, Kent’s chief of emergency medicine, for their rapid work in staging the field hospital and making preparations for the one in Quonset. The Cranston hospital would be ready to accept patients as of Wednesday, Sullivan said.

She said the “team nursing mode” would be applied in the field hospital. Each of the wards would consist of “pods” with 18 to 24 beds and be staffed by a physician plus three others.

To give it a Rhode Island flare, each of the pods is to be named after a Rhode Island beach. The wards are named simply A, B and C.

Fanale noted that initially, the state anticipated the need for an additional 6,000 beds to meet the surge, a number that has since been reduced to 1,000. In the case of Kent, he said the hospital is currently at 60 percent of capacity and the intent is to first use Kent before referring patients to a field hospital.

He acknowledged the build-out of the field hospitals and their associated costs, which he couldn’t provide, may be the source of criticism should they not be needed.

Yet, he prefers that situation to not preparing for the worst and for it then to happen.

Sullivan said the hospitals are meant to care for low-acuity COVID-19 positive patients.

“However, based on what we know about the course of this disease, we have built these sites to be able to care for patients with a wide variety of acuity, as well as systems in place to be able to urgently transfer in the advent of an acute event. The field hospitals include on-site pharmacy, labs, EKGs, and other clinical functionality.”

She said full hospital lab and clinical functionality are not available at the site.

“We have worked to assure that patients who need a higher level of care than we can provide will be moved back to the main hospital quickly through ambulances off site,” she added.

What about contacting the field hospitals and the patients being treated in them?

“Patients are allowed their own cell phones and are welcome to FaceTime or call their loves ones,” she said. “We will have a family line available for family to call and get connected on information on their loved one, staffed by a clinical social worker. There will be no visitation at the field hospital.”

Nottell, who worked in the infusion unit at Kent before retirement, has remained actively involved in the Critical Incident Stress Management Team. A nonprofit organization, the team is made up of clinicians, first responders, peers and clergy. It’s a kind of volunteer work she has done long before her retirement and believes has a vital role in this pandemic.

“How are we going to care for staff to get through this?” she asks. Nottell recognizes the virus had added stress to everyone’s life, but even more on caregivers and first responders. She said the team does not seek notoriety and works “quietly” with those suffering from stress.

“They know we are there if they need us,” Nottell said of those on the front lines in fighting this pandemic.

Nottell feels everyone can help in these times, even if it’s calling a neighbor to see if they are all right or offering to pick up something as the grocery store.

In her case, she wants to be there for patients and to assist fellow nurses.

“To be useful is the most honorable thing to do,” she said.

Comments

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  • Straightnnarrow

    !80,000 RI citizens have filed for unemployment compensation this year. Are these persons all from the private sector or are some from the public sector? My guess is that NONE come from the public sector, at least not here in Warwick where all City employees are receiving full pay while on furlough. Once again the private sector which foots the bill for the public gets shafted. In the meantime, less than 200 RI persons have died from the Wuhan virus, that is .0002% in population of one million, and RI hospitals are going broke because our Governor has prevented elective surgeries, except for her pet chop shops which perform abortions. And today she is telling the boys & girls that there won't be any proms this year, but she wants us all to have "fun" and she is gonna help us to be creative. LIBERATE RI

    Thursday, April 23, 2020 Report this

  • JamesBruder

    Igor,

    Would you like to reword your idiotic statement “ here in Warwick where all City employees are receiving full pay while on furlough”. There are many that are working full hours in their normal positions. Police, Firefighters, DPW, teachers are probably working harder trying to meet the work demand for all their kids. Are there a “few” that are home, of course. But you are brain dead to make that statement. What do you do for work Igor?

    Thursday, April 23, 2020 Report this

  • Straightnnarrow

    Roger,

    How dare anyone question the dedication and altruism of our beautiful City government workers? Tell that to Granny who had to sell her house because the taxes made it impossible to live there. In the meantime, City Hall closed, libraries closed, schools closed. Here is a list of City offices & depts closed or partially closed: Tax Collector, Tax Assessor, Animal Shelter, Board of Canvassers, Building Dept, City Council Liaison, Libraries, Parks & Rec Dept, Planning Dept, Pilgrim Senior Center, Sewer Authority, City Clerk. Municipal Court, School Dept.- bus drivers, custodians, teachers working their heads off. Yes, it is idiotic to think that they have been laid off with full pay as it would not have happened in the private sector, but when the taxpayer is on the hook, it's no problem. So of the 180,000 RI workers who have applied for unemployment compensation, how many of them are City or State workers?

    18% of RI population is furloughed without pay because of the Wuhan virus which has caused the death of less than 200 or .0002% of RI population. To paraphrase Winston Churchill: "never have SO MANY given SO MUCH for SO FEW and received SO LITTLE!"

    Thursday, April 23, 2020 Report this

  • JamesBruder

    Igor, I was just pointing out that your statement was completely incorrect. Have a good day.

    Friday, April 24, 2020 Report this

  • Warwickbeautiful

    Roger-keep in mind "igor1113" (Stacia) is still bitter about being a 3 time loser/wannabe politician. It's time for her to choose a new hobby.

    Friday, April 24, 2020 Report this

  • thepilgrim

    The Governor of Georgia wants to quickly reopen his state. One reason he stated is that the hospitals in Georgia are now experiencing record VACANCIES!! And I thought everyone was dying from this virus. But in Georgia the medical establishment is going out of business. When will the citizenry wake up and realize this is a hoax?

    Friday, April 24, 2020 Report this

  • Straightnnarrow

    "Educated Voter"

    Igor is not Stacia so go back to school & get reeducated, but don't call me Sue either.

    Saturday, April 25, 2020 Report this

  • perky4175

    these are a waste of money gina is just doing this so that her buddies can make money and she gets a kick back she really needs to be investagated

    Thursday, April 30, 2020 Report this