UPMC Chautauqua is reporting an increase in “patient COVID activity” following the Thanksgiving holiday. Hospital president Brian Durniok said those with COVID are staying longer in the facility than those without the virus. P-J photo by Jay Young

Since the Thanksgiving holiday, UPMC Chautauqua has seen an increase in patients with COVID-19.

That’s according to Brian Durniok, president of the Jamestown facility, and comes as more people than ever with the virus are in Chautauqua County hospitals.

“We’ve seen an increase in patient COVID activity really since right after Thanksgiving,” Durniok said. “Things have ramped up, and it obviously has filled some of our beds up.”

Early on during the pandemic, COVID-confirmed patients were kept in the hospital’s intensive care unit, where Durniok said rooms were private and provided easier access to further treatment and away from other patients to limit potential spread. He said as numbers have increased — 49 hospitalizations were reported by the county Health Department on Wednesday — an adjoining medical unit next to the ICU has been utilized for COVID patients.

Not only have nurses, doctors and other staff been kept “extremely busy” at UPMC Chautauqua in the last month, Durniok noted that those confirmed to have the coronavirus are staying longer in the hospital than other in-patients who don’t have COVID. He said that’s likely due to patients being older in age and with other health issues.

“Those with COVID stay longer, and by a good bit,” he said.

The increase in hospitalizations may also be the result of recent COVID clusters at local long-term and adult care facilities including The Magnolia, a Tanglewood Group-owned facility, in Frewsburg.

“The other challenge hospitals are facing is working tandem with nursing homes,” Durniok said. “You don’t want a situation where you’re sending (residents) back to a nursing home setting potentially causing an issue. We’re working very consistently to have a couple of negative test results for each individual” before sending residents back.

Durniok did not have the total hospitalization rate as of Wednesday morning. He said capacity has not hit the threshold dictated by the state, and noted that the situation is “looked at on a day-to-day basis.”

He said local officials are also waiting to see if there is a post-Christmas and New Year bump in new patients.

“The good news is we’ve seen a little bit of a flattening in the positivity rate,” he said. Officials have previously used out-patient COVID testing to gauge whether more patients will end up inside the Foote Avenue hospital.

“The reality is that managing though this increased activity, I have to give all the credit to our staff and physicians who have managed the increased (patient) census through their commitment,” Durniok said. “They are hard-working people in the hospital who recognize they are taking care of family and friends and working extra shifts.”

He added, “The staff is tired because they’ve been working so hard. There’s a lot of extra work. I think it’s been very taxing physically and it’s taxing mentally. I have a lot of respect for our employees. … They have managed this census increase going on two months.”

In Dunkirk, while capacity is a worry at Brooks-TLC Hospital, other concerns are more evident.

“We have a surge plan that allows us to add beds to accommodate a good uptick in patient census,” said Mary E. LaRowe, chief executive officer and president of Brooks-TLC. “However, staffing is the largest challenge for many hospitals and Brooks-TLC is no different. We are competing with staffing agencies across the country for nurses and other key front-line staff. Beds are not the issue right now.”

LaRowe said the institution is working with trade associations and staffing agencies to identify additional staff as capacity numbers increase. “We are also impacted by staff who cannot work due to having been exposed to an individual who tested COVID-19 positive. Staff are required to quarantine for 10 days, adding to our staffing challenge. Our capacity changes daily and sometime hourly, as a result.”

While reporting and working with the state Health Department on capacity numbers, LaRowe admitted some challenges that exist with some patients who are ready for discharge but need to be COVID-19 negative and asymptomatic for 10 days.

In addition, she said the hospital has canceled some elective surgeries while continuing to monitor other procedures that may require admission and add to staffing requirements.

“Our situation changes regularly, yet despite the challenges we are facing, I couldn’t be more proud of the our team,” LaRowe said. “They have been responsive, attentive, extremely flexible, and committed to the task ahead.”

Karen Surkala, president of Westfield Memorial Hospital, the facility has the capacity to provide care for up to 10 patients in a surge situation. “This is an increase of six beds from our normal capacity of four licensed beds,” she said.

There are no intensive care unit beds at Westfield, but Surkala said there is potential for the smaller-sized facility to provide that type of care if necessary. Surkala also said the hospital is not a capacity levels.