DUBLIN, Ga. — A month ago, the number of COVID-19 inpatients at Fairview Park Hospital was on the rise
At the time, ICU director Tami Thomsen said some of the cases were especially severe. "They're the sickest we've ever seen," she said.
Now, hospitalizations are dropping at the Dublin hospital.
They're down from a peak of around 10 COVID-19 inpatients at one point in April.
"We pretty much are consistently in the 3 to 5 or 6 range," said hospital CEO Donald Avery. "We've stayed there for a couple of weeks now."
Hospital CEO Donald Avery says the cancellation of most surgeries and a major drop in emergency room visits cost them millions in revenue.
"I'm guessing we're two, two-and-a-half, $3 million behind," he said.
But Avery says those numbers are bouncing back.
"I think that May, we'll be pretty close to on budget," the CEO said.
Avery says surgeries and emergency room visits are rebounding, approaching pre-pandemic levels.
Many staffers whose roles were temporarily reduced are now back on the job.
"Most of our employees are back working and not on pandemic pay," he said.
The pandemic pay program is an initiative at the hospital to provide a portion of employees' base salary to those whose jobs were temporarily eliminated by the virus' impact.
Avery notes that other rural hospitals are still struggling.
"I think there will be some rural hospitals that will be hard-pressed to keep their doors open if they can't see some recovery because a lot of them don't have the breadth of services to fall back on," he said.
And he still warns continued social distancing, mask wearing, and hand hygiene are important
"I think social distancing and the precautions that we've been using or exercising for the last few months are still good things to do," he said. "It's just wise."
But at least for Fairview Park Hospital, Avery is hopeful they've already weathered the worst of the storm.
"The numbers are down, I think they will stay down," he said. "I think there's reason to think that the worst of it is behind us."
Avery also encouraged people who have a non-COVID medical emergency to go to the hospital
He said their building is cleaned frequently and the chances of catching COVID-19 there are very low but not getting treatment for a serious problem could lead to long-term damage.
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