BACK
This post may refer to COVID-19

This post may refer to COVID-19

To access official information about the coronavirus, access CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ohio state rep says hospital CEO warns of attacks on healthcare workers by unvaccinated people
www.cleveland.com

Ohio state rep says hospital CEO warns of attacks on healthcare workers by unvaccinated people

Summit County State Rep. Casey Weinstein says in a tweet that there are 25 incidents a day involving medical workers and unvaccinated people, usually over what treatment and drugs patients should receive.

Health

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A state representative from Northeast Ohio is warning of increased attacks on healthcare workers by people related to patients who have not been vaccinated against the COVID-19 coronavirus, calling the situation “insane.”

In a tweet sent out Tuesday, Rep. Casey Weinstein, a Democrat from Summit County, says he was told by an unspecified hospital CEO that hospital workers are facing an increasing number of attacks during the COVID crisis.

‘Was just briefed by a major hospital network CEO,” Weinstein writes. “It’s not just that they’re beyond capacity. The families of their unvaccinated patients are ATTACKING caregivers for not giving them the ‘right’ meds and (quack) treatments.

Click to continue reading

Weinstein claims in the tweet there are 25 incidents each day. “This. Is. INSANE,” he writes.

In a second tweet, Weinstein says it’s important to treat hospital workers with respect as another coronavirus surge puts increased stress on healthcare providers.

“They are our last line of defense!” Weinstein writes.

There have been increased reports across the nation of violence toward healthcare workers. ABC News reports that a nurse testified before a Georgia Senate study committee in September that she was attacked by a patient so severely she ended up in the ER of her own hospital.

Cox Medical Center Branson in Missouri has issued panic buttons to healthcare workers because of a three-time increase in assaults on healthcare workers. Experts say many incidents of violence are not reported, ABC News reports.

“A year ago, we’re healthcare heroes and everybody’s clapping for us,” Dr. Stu Coffman, a Dallas-based emergency room physician, tells PBS News Hour. “And now we’re being in some areas harassed and disbelieved and ridiculed for what we’re trying to do, which is just depressing and frustrating.”

On Tuesday, Ohio set a single-day record in reporting 12,502 new cases of COVID-19. It’s bad news for Northeast Ohio hospital systems that already are being pushed to the maximum by the latest surge of the coronavirus, this time fueled by the omicron variant.

University Hospitals has more COVID-19 positive patients now than ever before. Currently, there are 394 hospitalized COVID patients in the UH system and 19% are in the intensive care unit. More than 850 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19 at the Cleveland Clinic and more than a quarter of them are in the ICUs.

“I know you’ve heard our ERs are overwhelmed, and our workers are exhausted,” said Dr. Claudia Hoyen, pediatric infection control, UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. “This has been 22 months of this pandemic, and it is taking a toll.”