The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Health care providers seeing mix of flu, COVID and RSV cases
[ By Katherine Nettles ]
As the early arrival of flu season has been tripled with persistent COVID cases and a particularly tough month of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Gunnison Valley Health officials reported in a work session to Gunnison County commissioners on Tuesday that the hospital system has been managing a mix of patients afflicted with viruses but appears to be in better shape than surrounding areas such as Montrose, Delta, Mesa County and even the Front Range.
According to GVH chief executive officer Jason Amrich, “GVH has continued to be a frontline responder for that, and we continue to see a mix of RSV, flu and COVID. Since December 11, we’ve seen seven positive RSV cases, and since November 1 we’ve admitted 10 RSV patients which are usually young children,” he said. “For perspective, we usually admit two to five RSV kiddos each year.”
Amrich said the urgent care has seen a significant, rapid increase in people visiting the urgent care and testing positive for flu. “On November 1 we had zero positive [flu cases]. On November 13, we had seven, on December 4 we had 22 and on the 11th we had 45 positives,” he said. “Thankfully, there are not a lot of admissions coming out of the flu so it’s mostly leaning on our clinics, and then we treat, test, support.”
Amrich said there have been three hospital admissions for flu patients since November 1. COVID cases have remained flat overall, with one hospital admission since November 1.
Commissioner chairperson Jonathan Houck asked how nearby areas that can provide the next level of care if patients need to be transferred have been faring with the virus spikes. “Are you seeing any constraints on that availability of care?” he asked.
Amrich said GVH works closely with the Colorado Hospital Transfer Center, since the COVID pandemic began. “Hospitals like Children’s Hospital in Denver and even in Colorado Springs are at capacity seeing lots of admits…but we have been able to actually treat and manage our RSV patients,” he said.
GVH has been working with a local oxygen distributing company to make sure there are enough pediatric oxygen regulators, since oxygen therapy is often used to treat severe cases of the respiratory virus. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), although RSV is highly contagious and spreads through surfaces and air droplets, most RSV infections go away on their own in a week or two.
