Inslee Announces Non-urgent Procedure Ban, National Guard Call-up as Part of Plan to Address Hospital Capacity

Governor Jay Inslee is saying Washington State's hospital systems are in crisis, with recent staffing shortages adding to the Omicron surge.

As a response to the situation, Inslee announced several measures Thursday meant to help address the problem.

Temporary Non-urgent Procedure Ban

Governor Inslee is temporarily banning all non-urgent procedures in Washington hospitals.

"A way to alleviate some of the stress on hospitals is to reduce the demands for some of the work they do and the procedures they do." explained Inslee, "This is one of the ways to increase capacity to deal with this Omicron surge, obviously."

The governor stated that his administration needs to make sure all hospitals across Washington State are sharing in this effort so patients can be transferred between hospitals depending on their staffing levels and demand.

Over 2,000 people in Washington are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. COVID patients account for 18% of all hospitalizations across the state and 22% of those in the ICU statewide.

The ban is set to expire in four weeks.

National Guard Call-up

Central Washington Hospital will be getting some help from the Washington National Guard after Inslee ordered 100 non-medical guardsmen into a one month deployment.

Those deployed could be used for a number of tasks, chief among them helping with testing efforts.

Inslee stated that it wouldn't make sense to require medically trained guardsmen, most of whom are already working in the medical field in their civilian life, to drop what they are doing and report to a different hospital.

"But we know that emergency rooms are full. More people are showing up all the time." continued Inslee, "We want to help hospitals handle the volume of patients, and we think that the National Guard can help in a variety of tasks."

It's unclear just how many National Guard members will be sent to Central Washington Hospital. Three other hospitals in the state were included as set to receive help from the guardsmen.

Washington is one of nine states using its National Guard to help in coronavirus-related efforts.

Requesting Retired Medical Workers

Governor Inslee is also asking that Washington's retired healthcare workers consider returning to the job over the next few weeks to combat the state's hospital staffing shortages and capacity issues.

Inslee said retired workers can help with administering tests or vaccinations, or can also simply staff local hospitals or long term care facilities.

"This crisis is, I hope, temporary and we could use all the help we can get to give a little relief to our hard working personnel and help save some lives too." added Inslee, "So thanks a million for thinking about this."

To find out more, go to waserv.org.