Little explains Crisis Standards of Care, highlights steps to address hospital constraints BOISE - Governor Brad Little explained Friday that Idahoans can expect diminished healthcare access if the State of Idaho must activate the Crisis Standards of Care, and he outlined many of the actions the state has taken to address the constraints facing hospitals due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The State of Idaho would activate Crisis Standards of Care if the healthcare system becomes overwhelmed over a broad geographic region and if resources cannot be obtained quickly enough to address the shortage. "If the State of Idaho must activate the Crisis Standards of Care, you or someone you love may be turned away from the hospital or given a lower standard of care because we simply may not have enough beds, critical care doctors, nurses, and technicians to handle the number of COVID-19 patients in need of care. Hospitals are telling us the need to activate Crisis Standards of Care will arrive in Idaho if individual Idahoans do not make the choice to reverse the trend in our rising COVID-19 cases," Little said. He provided specific examples of what Idahoans could expect under the activation of Crisis Standards of Care:
Eighty percent of Idaho's hospitals are not operating normally right now because healthcare workers are out sick with COVID-19 and too many very sick COVID-19 patients are coming through their doors. Little outlined the steps his administration has taken to prepare hospitals: "My administration will continue to do the job of ensuring hospitals are equipped with the resources they need to avoid Crisis Standards of Care. We will continue to improve access to testing. We will continue to move toward broadly available therapeutics and a vaccine. Those actions are the responsibility of government. But government alone is not going to solve our problem. The solution is each and every one of us and our personal actions. Our success or failure to protect our loved ones comes down to personal responsibility. Please make the right choices," Little said. Idaho will remain under the Governor's Stage 2 statewide public health order. Under the order:
"I want to commend our hospitals across the state for working around the clock to share resources so we can avoid a devastating situation as much as possible. I also want to express my deep appreciation to our doctors, nurses, and other medical staff who are overworked and pulling extra shifts to help in the fight. You are true heroes," Little said. |
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Window on the Clearwater P.O. Box 2444 Orofino, ID 83544 Phone: (208) 476-0733 Fax: (208) 476-4140 |