Coronavirus Greenwich: Hospital Readies For Influx Of Patients

GREENWICH, CT — On Tuesday, First Selectman Fred Camillo announced the number of positive cases of the new coronavirus in Greenwich has risen above 40, and Greenwich Hospital reported the cumulative total of positive tests it has received is 133. The first selectman also emphasized that only 45 of those positive cases reported by the hospital were town residents, as the hospital also draws many patients from Westchester County, N.Y.

During a press conference Monday afternoon, Greenwich Hospital COO Diane Kelly said the hospital was prepared for an influx of patients, as Camillo emphasized an "upswing in the number of cases reported among town residents" was expected as more residents are tested for the virus, also referred to as COVID-19.

According to Kelly, the hospital spent time Monday looking at ways to expand their Intensive Care Unit's capacity. (To sign up for Greenwich breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

"We usually have a 10-bed ICU unit," Kelly said. "We will, by the end of [Monday], have the capacity for a 30-bed ICU."

See also: Coronavirus Greenwich: 45 Residents Test Positive

Kelly also said the hospital has chosen to cancel all elective surgeries and procedures.

"It's the responsible thing to do," Kelly said. "First of all, it helps decrease the spread of this virus. Secondly, it frees up some of our resources; some of the nurses, physicians and other ancillary personnel...I can now bring them into the hospital to take care of the patients."

She also emphasized that not all patients who test positive for the virus are in the hospital's ICU.

"Most patients right now are on either a regular medical floor or perhaps a telemetry monitored floor," Kelly said. "That too is part of our plan, making sure we have additional resources on those units. You want to be able to expand your ICU, because if [more patients] become more critical in nature, those are the services that you need to have readily available with no time notice."

Kelly said the hospital has looked into utilizing satellite locations for medical services should the need arise, but emphasized it is a "further out plan." She also noted the hospital could utilize some of its other facilities, including a "large medical practice arena" in Stamford, before using other locations.

"We would of course first look at what we have," Kelly said. "I'm only looking at medical facilities, whether they're physician offices or medical practices or ambulatory surgery. We're not looking at non-medical [facilities] at this point in time."

COVID-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that's a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past.

While the hospital's big focus at the moment is testing and care in relation to the virus, Kelly noted the hospital is still continuing to take care of residents in many of its other capacities.

"We are still taking care of essential surgery," Kelly said. "We are still delivering babies, I'm happy to say; that's a joyful part of our job. We're still treating the other things people depend on...so none of that is being compromised."

She also expressed gratitude to many members of the community who have shown generosity toward the hospital and its hard-working staff during this challenging period.

"The support that the community has given Greenwich Hospital is overwhelming," Kelly said. "This support has gone from people sending pizzas to the emergency department staff, to people wanting to buy ventilators and people sending masks."

See also: Greenwich Residents Order Pizzas For Hospital's Emergency Staff

She noted residents' generosity was "really felt" by the staff.

"Yes of course they love the pizzas and the food," Kelly said, "but what they really love is that the community cares about what we're doing."