An early afternoon press conference included representatives of the Medical Society of Mobile County, USA Health and Mobile Infirmary, in addition to Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood and Mayor Sandy Stimpson. One strong message from the medical side: Mobile’s four hospitals are at capacity thanks to the fast-spreading Delta variant of the disease.
Mobile and Baldwin counties have some of the highest COVID numbers in the state. Most related hospitalizations involve unvaccinated patients.
Dr. Bill Admire, chief medical officer for Mobile Infirmary, said that “the number of COVID patients we’re seeing is higher than it’s been in the last 18 months. The hospitals in Mobile County, the emergency rooms, the urgent-care clinics, doctor’s offices, are overwhelmed. The numbers keep rising.”
“On any given morning we’ve got 20, 25, 30 patients in the Emergency Department waiting for beds to open up,” at USA Health University Hospital, said Dr. Michael Chang, Chief Medical Officer and Associate Vice President for Medical Affairs for the USA Health system. “When we’re full up like that, it’s difficult, it presents a challenge in terms of providing the other unique services that that hospital provides.”
“On the pediatric side, I’ll just tell you that in the last 12 months, [at USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital], our pediatric services diagnosed 500 cases of COVID in children,” said Chang. “In the last five days we’ve diagnosed 100.”
Admire said each of Mobile’s four hospitals was at the capacity level where it would normally go “on diversion,” steering incoming cases elsewhere when possible. Chang said that when all hospitals are maxed out, they have to manage the overload as best they can.
Stimpson said that the city has tightened up its COVID-related policies with a spate of recent changes. Among other things, his administration has restricted non-essential travel by city employees, encouraged city workers to seek vaccination, and arranged at least one vaccination event at Government Plaza.
Ludgood said the county administration will announce new policies of its own later in the week.
“Where we are is that it is a personal decision that everyone has to make to get a vaccine,” said Stimpson. “We will continue to share information. Hopefully there will be a tipping point where you realize this is the best interest for you and your family.”
On the issue of a mask mandate, he deferred to health officials.
“We’re in constant communication with the CMOs, with the hospitals, with the health department, waiting to see what the recommendation will be, really, from the health Department,” Stimpson said. “It is ultimately their decision, stemming from the state health department to the county health department. In the meantime we’re going to have an ongoing conversation to see what their thoughts are on that.”
“Masking is a very hot topic,” said Admire. “You can look at it on the local, state, federal level and you can look at it on the medical level. What I can do as a physician, and my colleagues will agree, we highly recommend wearing masks in public, in close quarters with other folks, especially in hospitals where we have sick patients. Yes, we want everyone to wear masks … Now, can that be mandated? That is a political question and a medical question.”
“The main thing is to get vaccinated,” said Admire. “The mayor is right. It’s a personal choice. You have your personal liberty to make the choice. But I ask you to make an informed decision. … These are things that we need to do as a community. If you want to help yourself, your loved ones, your family and your community. There’s a duty involved in being part of a community.”
Dr. Nina Ford Johnson, president of the Medical Society of Mobile County,
“I’m not here to berate you, I’m here to appeal to your humanity. I’m appealing to you to be your brother’s keeper,” Johnson said. “Your brother or sister may not look like you. Your brother or sister may live in Toulminville, Midtown, Crighton, Campground, off of Old Shell Road. They may live in Semmes, Wilmer, Prichard, by the airport. Your brother or sister may not look like you but I’m asking for you to do what’s best for each of us.
“So what does that mean?” continued Ford. “That means wear your mask. I understand that this sucks. I don’t like wearing a mask and I wear two of them, as you can see. And I want the children to wear masks, even in the schools. I think that’s 1000% necessary. After I leave here I’ve got to rush back to my office because I’ve got a busy clinic ahead of me, full of sick kids. I’m asking also that you get vaccinated as soon as possible.”
Ford called on faith leaders to speak up about vaccination, or to invite healthcare professionals to speak to their congregations. “I feel all of us standing here today are like Noah, telling folks it’s going to rain, but no one is believing us until it’s too late,” she said. “If you haven’t talked to your congregation about this deadly illness, this deadly virus, you are doing your people, our community, a huge disservice.”
Admire and Chang said that at this point, there’s no clear prediction as to when the current wave of COVID-19 will peak or how long it will be before it recedes.
There’s a time lag before a vaccinated person achieves maximum immunity, which means vaccination won’t solve the problem overnight. But it’s about looking ahead, Chang said: If more people had gotten vaccinated earlier, the current wave might not be so bad. If more people get vaccinated now, the next wave might be prevented.
“If we had an 80% plus vaccination rate out of the box, we might not be in this situation right now. But that’s water under the bridge, so to speak,” he said. “What’s the saying, we need to skate to where the puck is going to be, not where the puck is now. That’s the problem that we have. We’ve been chasing the puck the whole time.”
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