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My local clinic is so overbooked with work, that I had to come in before they opened and stand in line. Even though I was in line before they even opened, it to

My local clinic is so overbooked with work, that I had to come in before they opened and stand in line. Even though I was in line before they even opened, it took me 2 hours to get some basic care (just a TDAP booster, wooping cough, for reasons completely unrelated to COVID19). Yeah, there was a line long before I got there. This is a major story because all across the country, our health care system has been stretched to its limits. We had a nursing shortage before COVID19 started, but this pandemic has only made our nurses and doctors even _MORE_ overworked than expected, as they deal with case-after-case of COVID19.

argiopetech 5y ago
How much of that is due to changes in procedure (additional cleaning, more involved check-in, etc.?) How much of that is due to healthcare workers leaving the local area (e.g., for incredibly lucrative travel nursing positions) or the industry generally (due to burnout, unemployment incentives, vaccine refusal, etc.?) Finally, how much of the current situation is due to the "catch-up" effect of people who were unable or unwilling to have sub-optimal diagnosed in the midst of the 2020 hysteria and are now seeking treatment for more and more serious conditions? There is much more at play here than the disease itself. Government, media, and institutions should be held to account for their role in exacerbating the situation.
- dragontamer 5y ago
  A month ago, I had no problem getting a flu shot. Walk in, got the shot and left. Like 5 minutes. This past week, COVID-19 cases are triple what they used to be and flu cases are doubled in my county. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the problem. Same clinic, same staff, just one month apart with a sudden COVID and Flu surge. It was even the same nurse who administered the two shots. ----- And the receptionist said, sorry for the wait, we've had an explosion of COVID-19 cases. EDIT: "Overrun" was the receptionist's word actually. But you get the gist.
  - argiopetech 5y ago
    Fair enough. Out of curiosity, do you live in one of the areas the CDC lists as having a high COVID-related ICU bed occupancy? https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/covid19/report-patient-impact.html https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/covid19/report-patient-impact.html
    - dragontamer 5y ago
      Category D (60% to 69%) area. There's no ICU at this facility I go to. Just a neighborhood clinic. But enough people are taking COVID19 tests that they're having issues keeping up. ------- Everyone around me was in for non-COVID19 reasons. We all came in on maybe Thursday/Friday/Saturday, saw the 4-hour wait, and decided to come back on Sunday to stand in line before the clinic opened. But the number of COVID19 walk-in patients was clearly big enough to cause all of us in line to postpone our health care (again, mine was pretty whatever, just a TDAP/Wooping Cough booster, the person in front of me had mysterious pains and the person behind me had a mysterious blister). So nothing "serious" mind you, but... there's a lot of self-selection bias here since we all came back another day. ---- Furthermore, the clinic has temporarily suspended its giveout of flu shots. Its really overrun right now and quite evident. I drive past it every day to work and I can see that its parking lot is completely packed. The sign-in line took 45 minutes to clear after the clinic opened. That's just walk in, type in your name + problem into the computer, and sit down. A lot of us standing outside in the cold waiting just to get to the damn computer screen to sign in.
      - argiopetech 5y ago
        Thanks! I'm trying to build a mental model of how well that data corresponds to the "on the ground" situation. Evey datum helps. It's likely unknowable, but I'd be curious to know how many of those coming in for COVID tests are being required to test. We all know at this point the symptoms of COVID. It's a generally good idea (as well as the most comfortable option) to avoid the public when ill. Exercising a sick day or call-out option to rest and recoup seems more sensible and causes less risk to the public and the capacity of healthcare institutions than sending every case of the sniffles for a test.

argiopetech 5y ago

How much of that is due to changes in procedure (additional cleaning, more involved check-in, etc.?) How much of that is due to healthcare workers leaving the local area (e.g., for incredibly lucrative travel nursing positions) or the industry generally (due to burnout, unemployment incentives, vaccine refusal, etc.?) Finally, how much of the current situation is due to the "catch-up" effect of people who were unable or unwilling to have sub-optimal diagnosed in the midst of the 2020 hysteria and are now seeking treatment for more and more serious conditions? There is much more at play here than the disease itself. Government, media, and institutions should be held to account for their role in exacerbating the situation.

dragontamer 5y ago
A month ago, I had no problem getting a flu shot. Walk in, got the shot and left. Like 5 minutes. This past week, COVID-19 cases are triple what they used to be and flu cases are doubled in my county. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the problem. Same clinic, same staff, just one month apart with a sudden COVID and Flu surge. It was even the same nurse who administered the two shots. ----- And the receptionist said, sorry for the wait, we've had an explosion of COVID-19 cases. EDIT: "Overrun" was the receptionist's word actually. But you get the gist.
- argiopetech 5y ago
  Fair enough. Out of curiosity, do you live in one of the areas the CDC lists as having a high COVID-related ICU bed occupancy? https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/covid19/report-patient-impact.html https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/covid19/report-patient-impact.html
  - dragontamer 5y ago
    Category D (60% to 69%) area. There's no ICU at this facility I go to. Just a neighborhood clinic. But enough people are taking COVID19 tests that they're having issues keeping up. ------- Everyone around me was in for non-COVID19 reasons. We all came in on maybe Thursday/Friday/Saturday, saw the 4-hour wait, and decided to come back on Sunday to stand in line before the clinic opened. But the number of COVID19 walk-in patients was clearly big enough to cause all of us in line to postpone our health care (again, mine was pretty whatever, just a TDAP/Wooping Cough booster, the person in front of me had mysterious pains and the person behind me had a mysterious blister). So nothing "serious" mind you, but... there's a lot of self-selection bias here since we all came back another day. ---- Furthermore, the clinic has temporarily suspended its giveout of flu shots. Its really overrun right now and quite evident. I drive past it every day to work and I can see that its parking lot is completely packed. The sign-in line took 45 minutes to clear after the clinic opened. That's just walk in, type in your name + problem into the computer, and sit down. A lot of us standing outside in the cold waiting just to get to the damn computer screen to sign in.
    - argiopetech 5y ago
      Thanks! I'm trying to build a mental model of how well that data corresponds to the "on the ground" situation. Evey datum helps. It's likely unknowable, but I'd be curious to know how many of those coming in for COVID tests are being required to test. We all know at this point the symptoms of COVID. It's a generally good idea (as well as the most comfortable option) to avoid the public when ill. Exercising a sick day or call-out option to rest and recoup seems more sensible and causes less risk to the public and the capacity of healthcare institutions than sending every case of the sniffles for a test.