Wausau Aspirus Hospital Adapts to the Peak of COVID-19

Wausau is a town in central Wisconsin with a population of about 38,500 and amid the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, their biggest hospital, Aspirus, struggled.

On Nov. 15, 2020 there were 279 new cases in Marathon County alone.  

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Aspirus Wausau Hospital was one of many hospitals in the state of Wisconsin to become overwhelmed with patients diagnosed with COVID-19. One of the biggest problems within the hospital was the amount of hospital beds available.  

Aspirus designated 130 beds for COVID-19 patients, and all of them became filled. Patients were discharged and minutes later, a new patient entered the room for care, according to Aspirus health officials.  

“In my profession, I’m used to death and dying, not uncommonly, but my team is seeing volumes of people dying that they have never had to deal with before,” said Dr. Stephan Phillipson, Aspirus Wausau Hospital Director of Medicine. 

Hospital Staff Never Gave Up on Patients

With the hospital overwhelmed, it never turned down those who needed care. The only change for patient care was that the hospital decided to stop elective surgeries, meaning surgeries that were not an emergency. Those surgeries were postponed to a later date. Not only did stopping elective surgeries help create open beds, it also helped save the PPE gear that healthcare workers needed to take care of others, according to Dawnelle Klos, a Registered Nurse at Aspirus of 41 years. 

Klos started working at the Wausau Aspirus Hospital location in June of 1979. This June will mark her 42 year as a frontline health worker.  

Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and put on a ventilator only have a 1 in 3 chance of surviving and being able to go home to their friends and family. This ratio was a big factor in the COVID-19 peak at Aspirus.

Over 300 staff members of Aspirus Wausau Hospital were out with COVID-19 or with symptoms in November 2020.  

“The most challenging part of working was the unknown,” said Klos. “The unknown was the worst.” 

How Management and Staff Coped During COVID-19 Peak

Hospital management had meetings twice a day and every time the meetings ended, something would change. From PPE gear to different testing protocol for employees, testing patients, and the training of staff, things were changing.

Staff went as far as quitting their jobs in fear of bringing COVID-19 home to their spouses, children, and parents. Others quit because of how mentally and physically exhausted they were. From working full days and experiencing painful amounts of death in one day, health professionals suffered.

After the peak of the pandemic, Aspirus was offering at home monitoring for patients who were not severely ill. They offered that in order to help free inpatient hospital beds to help those who needed ventilators.  

Hospital officials say that it is up to the community to act like frontline healthcare workers in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to protect the community.  

Health officials urge community members to get the vaccine, continue social distancing and wear a mask.