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Little: $10M for hospitals

by HANNAH NEFF/Staff writer
| September 22, 2021 1:07 AM

As COVID-19 cases surge, Gov. Brad Little said Idaho will direct an additional $10 million in relief to Idaho hospitals, primary urgent care clinics and nursing homes.

“We have taken many steps to preserve access to healthcare during the pandemic,” Little said Tuesday. “This latest round of support will help ease the burden on our hospitals and healthcare heroes right now.”

Jeremy Evans, chief regional operations officer for Kootenai Health, said they were pleased and grateful the governor was allocating more resources to help hospitals across the state, including Kootenai Health.

“We’ve appreciated the support from federal resources and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the military to manage this dire situation," he said.

Idaho Health and Welfare director Dave Jeppesen said Tuesday in a press conference that Idaho has continued to set record highs with 686 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, 180 in the ICU and 112 on ventilators.

“That 112 number is almost double what we saw at the previous peak of individuals on a ventilator that occurred back in December,” Jeppesen said. “These numbers continue to increase and we expect them to continue to increase.”

Evans said Kootenai Health experienced their highest number of COVID-19 patients in critical care this week with 43 patients. They currently have a total of 111 COVID-19 patients.

The hospital is currently operating under crisis standards of care.

Since Sept. 15, Heritage Health has treated about 90 COVID positive patients with REGENCOV, a combination monoclonal antibody therapy that has been authorized under the FDA’s emergency use authorization.

Monoclonal antibodies work by targeting the coronavirus spike protein, blocking the virus from entering cells and stopping the infection from spreading.

Dr. Christine Hahn, state epidemiologist, said there has been an increase in treatment requests in Idaho, but the antibodies are not a replacement for the vaccine.

Hahn said the antibodies don’t give long lasting protection nor do they make one less vulnerable to COVID-19.

A report released from the American Hospital Association projects hospitals nationwide will lose an estimated $54 billion in net income over the course of the year, after taking into account federal aid from last year.

These expenses come from the higher costs of care for sicker patients including COVID-19 patients and patients who put off care during the pandemic, as well increased spending for resources on contract or travel nurses due to staffing shortages.