Erie County Medical Center is shifting to a more restrictive patient visitation policy beginning Friday, seeking to stem the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant that is causing Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations to again rise.
The county's Health Department confirmed 1,137 cases for Thursday, crushing the previous pandemic daily high of 981 cases on Dec. 3.
The Buffalo medical facility announced Wednesday that it will suspend all inpatient visitation, starting Friday, except when it is medically necessary or for family members or legal representatives of patients in imminent end-of-life situations.
"This restriction is being implemented in an effort to protect ECMC's vulnerable patients and caregivers from avoidable exposure to infection," a hospital statement reads. "Similar to what is taking place in health care institutions throughout the region, state and country, ECMC is experiencing staffing shortages and the updated patient visitation guidelines will help further protect ECMC's frontline caregivers from the virus."
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It was about a month ago when ECMC returned to a patient visitation policy that limited patients to one visitor per day during a six-hour visitation window. Catholic Health System and Kaleida Health rolled out similar visitor restrictions at that time.
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, meanwhile, have required visitors to show proof of vaccination for about a month.
With Covid-19 cases again skyrocketing, Western New York's hospitals returned to more restrictive patient-visitation policies in recent days.
The new visitation policy at ECMC is similar to the one the medical center rolled out in mid-November 2020, in response to the state's designation of Erie County as an orange zone of Covid-19 pandemic-related restrictions.
It comes as the Omicron variant is causing ECMC's inpatient census to increase.
ECMC spokesperson Peter Cutler said the facility had 67 patients hospitalized with Covid-19 on Wednesday, up from 46 one week earlier. The hospital hit its peak of Covid-19 patients on Dec. 6, with 78.
Erie County hospitals had 280 people hospitalized with Covid-19 on Monday, up 30 from Sunday, the Erie County Health Department said.
COVID-19 patients on December 27: Erie Co. hospitals had 280 patients (up 30); 62 in the ICU (up 3); 46 on an airway assist (up 3). Four died and 49% of the patients were aged 64 and under. @HealthNYGov hospitalization data at https://t.co/KTin3yT1ub /1 pic.twitter.com/dW9vURpL6m
— Erie County Department of Health 😷 (@ECDOH) December 29, 2021
State data show ECMC remains the most capacity-strained hospital in Erie County.
Meanwhile, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown urged everyone planning to attend the New Year's Eve ball drop to be vaccinated and to wear masks, though he said those guidelines won't be enforced.
On Monday, state records show, only 12 of ECMC's 331 staffed acute care beds were available. ECMC's seven-day average of available staffed hospital beds is 2%.
When looking at all of Erie County, the seven-day average of available hospital beds is 15%, which trails the statewide rate of 24%. Of all state regions, Central New York, which includes Syracuse, has the lowest percentage of available hospital beds, at just 10% over the last week.
Given its capacity constraints, inpatient and outpatient elective surgeries remain suspended at ECMC, in accordance with the state order on nonessential procedures at New York hospitals with occupancy rates above 90%.
For those who are allowed to visit at ECMC after Friday, they will be required to wear a hospital-grade mask and be screened for symptoms, including cough, shortness of breath and fever.
ECMC said patients and their families have been advised to communicate via telephone and with products such as FaceTime. ECMC said it would assist patients without personal devices with technology.
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While inpatient visitation is suspended except in certain circumstances, ECMC said one support person will be able to accompany a patient in its Emergency Department. That person must remain in the patient's treatment room for the entire visit.
At the ECMC-run Terrace View Long-Term Care Facility, which has 390 beds, visitors are allowed between 1 and 7 p.m. Each visitor must complete the screening process upon arrival. Any visitor under 18 years old is asked to call to make an appointment: 716-551-7217.
