WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – While all eyes are on vaccinations Ascension Via Christi is seeing an opposite trend in coronavirus hospitalizations.
KSN News spoke with Dr. Sam Antonios, Ascension Via Christi chief clinical officer, who says the total number of COVID hospitalizations is down. He said they are moving in the right direction with staffing to support those most in need. He said they are averaging around 40 fewer COVID-19 patients than in November, allowing them more time to vaccinate staff.
Ascension Via Christi has vaccinated around 5,000 frontline workers. And the hospital received its first shipment of the Moderna vaccine this week. Many of their front-line workers are receiving their second injection of the Pfizer vaccine at the end of this week.
“So, we started immediately with those people who work in the COVID units and then started going to some of the other units. We still have several thousand doses to give to our remaining employees who work in our health care facilities, so we have plans and continue to do so,” said Dr. Antonios.
Usually, January is a pretty busy month for hospitals, but Dr. Antonio’s said if Wichitans continue to social distance and wear their mask he believes this trend can continue to move in the right direction.
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