WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The White River Junction VA Medical Center may need to open a section of the hospital dedicated to COVID-19 patients, the center’s director Brett Rusch said Monday.
Rusch said it’s too soon to tell whether the many social distancing efforts enacted in recent days will help avoid having to add capacity at the facility. The VA Medical Center is comprised of 37 medical and surgical beds and seven intensive care beds.
There’s “so much good effort that’s happening now,” Rusch said in a Monday phone interview. “I want to believe that will make a difference.”
Rusch said that staffing levels could be more of a problem than space if there is a large spike in cases requiring inpatient care. If such a scenario develops, the VA may solicit help from people in the area with a health care background, he said.
Rusch spoke two days after Vermont health officials announced the VA was treating a Windsor County veteran in his 90s who had tested positive for COVID-19.
“Nobody was happy to see that,” Rusch said in a phone interview.
But they were ready, Rusch said.
Rusch, who spoke via teleconference from home, said that the VA is doing what many employers have by asking employees to work from home when they can in order to reduce the risk of exposure. In addition, the VA is delaying elective procedures to conserve personnel, as well as masks and other personal protective equipment.
“We just need to preserve every resource that we have,” Rusch said.
Given that veterans are generally older and have more medical conditions than the general public, Rusch said it is important that they abide by the recommendations to stay home, avoid crowds and wash their hands.
There’s “still time to really commit to all of that for most of those individuals,” Rusch said.
Aside from noting that older people with other medical conditions seem to be more likely to develop serious illness from the disease, Rusch declined to provide information about the status of the COVID-19 patient being treated at the VA.
The VA’s other efforts to address COVID-19 include putting a new process into place beginning Tuesday that will ensure that people with symptoms, who don’t need to be hospitalized, stay outside.
While Rusch said the VA has sufficient supplies such as masks for now, he said it’s hard to predict how supplies will last since it’s hard to know how many people will be infected and need treatment.
“A lot of us are still relatively optimistic,” Rusch said.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
