By Jack Krampitz
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal came to Bristol Hospital Tuesday morning to thank the medical staff in Bristol and all over the state for their tremendous effort during the recent surge of Covid 19 cases. What he heard was a story of overwhelming stress on the medical staff and facility during the Omicron variant’s rampage and the remarkable effort the staff has put in to handle the crisis.
Dr. Andrew Lim, director of Bristol Health Emergency Medicine, described the increase in daily visits to the emergency room. “On average, we expect to see about 80 patients through the doors of our emergency room. Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen days where the volume will double to 150, some sicker than others, but all of those needing care.”
Kurt Barwis 
Dr. Lim 
Sen. Blumenthal thanking health care workers 
Sen Blumenthal addressing the group outside the Hospital Emergency Room.
Dr. Lim went on to describe another nagging problem, the delays in getting approval from insurance companies for patients to be transferred to another care facility. Lim stated, “We continue to have patients in our emergency room who are there for two to three days or longer as we wait for authorizations from insurance companies to approve transfers to skilled nursing facilities. At one point we’re having 10 patients who were waiting (such) approval… And not only does this take up much needed bed space but also nursing resources. For each one of those instances, we could have potentially taken care of 20 additional patients.”
Dr. Lim ended his remarks with an often repeated, but also ignored, reminder. “Although we have become more adept at treating patients with Covid 19, the best therapy is prevention. The clear pattern that we have seen both locally and nationally is that those who are sickest in our ICU are those who are unvaccinated. Vaccines are safe, effective, and truly a life-saving turning point to put an end to this pandemic.”
The next speaker was Kurt Barwis, president and CEO of Bristol Health, and he echoed and expanded on Dr. Lim’s remarks. He brought up the urgent issue of staffing. “In all my years of working in healthcare, I’ve never experienced a workforce shortage of this significance or magnitude.” Much of the focus has been on why staff is leaving and where they are going. Barwis said that surveys tell the story, with six in 10 employees indicating the pandemic as the reason to go elsewhere. And many people are not just leaving for another organization, but they are leaving the healthcare field altogether. “It makes the work of those who have remained that much more astonishing,” Barwis added.
Sen. Blumenthal then spoke with a simple message of thanks. “The people of Connecticut are so grateful to everyone here, nurses, doctors, clerical staff- everyone. You have been on the front line, day in, day out, through the toughest parts of this pandemic, putting your lives on the line… You have endlessly, boundlessly been helping people, not just with the great physical care, but the most sustaining peace during some of the darkest days of this pandemic.”
Blumenthal ended by repeating the dominant theme. He said he meets people all the time who say they are so grateful to our healthcare workers, and he tells them to show how grateful they are by getting vaccinated, and tested, and to wear a mask. “You can help the great healthcare givers in Connecticut and show them how grateful you are by doing the right thing and getting your family to do the right thing, and your friends and your co-workers and your neighbors. Stand for science.”
Mayor Jeff Caggiano was the last to speak, also thanking Bristol Hospital and its employees for all they do for the people of the greater Bristol area.