Courtesy of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Though Sutter Coast Hospital’s intensive care unit hasn’t expanded beyond capacity, most of its beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients, forcing its staff to arrange transportation to facilities outside the county for patients with other serious illnesses.

But due to dire situations at hospitals in Northern California and Southern Oregon, finding beds for patients elsewhere is difficult, Del Norte County’s public health officer told the Wild Rivers Outpost.

“There were some tense moments this weekend where the impact could have been disastrous had we not taken some extra measures like calling in an additional doctor and more nursing staff to the ER,” Dr. Aaron Stutz told the Outpost on Tuesday.

Ten people were admitted to Sutter Coast Hospital with coronavirus symptoms over the weekend, the Del Norte Public Health Branch reported on Monday. One-hundred and sixty-one new cases were confirmed, including 15 new incarcerated cases, making for a total of 442 active cases in Del Norte County overall.

One person has died from COVID-19 symptoms, according to the Public Health Branch. Forty-two people have died from COVID since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Stutz said he didn’t know much yet about the person who died from COVID over the weekend, but said he expects more COVID-related deaths.

Stutz, who works in the hospital’s emergency room, said most of the patients he’s seen at the hospital are over the age of 50. Most are also unvaccinated, though there are some breakthrough cases, he said.

Some of those COVID patients have to stay in the hospital for weeks at a time, taking up limited bed space, Stutz said.

“This means we lose that bed space for a period of days to weeks, meaning each admitted case on average has disproportionately more of a negative impact on our healthcare system,” he said. “This also means the patient likely gets an enormous bill after their stay. For many people, this could be financially crippling, and hospital bills are a very large contributing element of personal bankruptcy in our society.”

Stutz continues to urge Del Norters to get a COVID-19 vaccine if they haven’t already. With only 54.4 percent of the county’s population fully vaccinated as of and 7 percent partially vaccinated as of Jan. 26, the county’s vaccination rate is among the lowest in the state, he said.

Stutz said he blames Del Norte’s low vaccination rate on the amount of misinformation spread by the news media and social media.

“As a healthcare worker, it is hard to describe how unbelievable and disheartening it is to repeatedly watch patients be admitted to the hospital and die or be left with permanent morbidities after stoutly refusing to get a simple and safe vaccine that likely would have saved them — and which has been freely available for over a year now,” he said. “And then to have their families actually try and talk us out of calling their death a COVID-related death; in 15 years as a medical professional, I’ve never witnessed anything so bizarre.”

COVID-19 vaccines are available from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday at Sutter Coast Hospital in Crescent City.

United Indian Health Services is also offering COVID-19 vaccines from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday and Wednesday at Howonquet Hall in Smith River and from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday at the Elk Valley Rancheria Tribal Office on Howland Hill Rd. in Crescent City.

For more information about COVID in Del Norte, click here.

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