Hospitalizations remain high in Park County, despite indications virus is waning

POWELL (WNE)  – While COVID-19-related hospitalizations have fallen across the state of Wyoming in recent days, that has not been the case in Park County.
Last week, there were as many as 15 patients with COVID-19 being treated at the county’s two hospitals — a new local high for the pandemic.
As of Saturday, there were 14: six patients at Powell Valley Healthcare and eight at Cody Regional Health. The number of hospitalized patients in Wyoming is “a battle that we’re really fighting now,” Park County Public Health Nurse Manager Bill Crampton said Friday.
Park County Health Officer Dr. Aaron Billin said a person died in the county in connection with COVID-19 last week.
Although it will be some time before a death certificate is completed and confirmed by the Wyoming Department of Health, it would be the eighth death in Park County, among more than 1,700 confirmed and probable cases recorded since March.
Most people who are infected recover at home.
There have been positive signs in recent weeks, with the number of COVID19-related hospitalizations in the state dropping from a high of 247 patients on Nov. 30 to 187 on Friday.
Active cases across the state have also dropped and, over the weekend, Wyoming had the lowest rate of transmission in the country.
Billin also said the percentage of Park County tests coming back positive for the novel coronavirus has dropped in recent days (from 9.2% to 6.5%) and recent testing of Powell and Cody’s sewage has also turned up fewer traces of the virus. Those declines indicate the virus is less prevalent.
However, Billin still counted 182 active lab-confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases in the county, including 80 Powell residents and 68 Cody residents.

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East gate opens earlier for snowmobiles

CODY (WNE) – For the last two decades snowmobile enthusiasts have been gaining ground as far as access to Yellowstone National Park.
They will now get 20 extra days to access Yellowstone in the winter from the East Entrance.
It’s an effort Dede Fales, co-owner of Gary Fales Outfitting, has lobbied for extensively.
On Wednesday, the Park announced it will bump up its opening date for the gate from Dec. 22 to Tuesday. In the spring, the Entrance will now close on March 15 instead of the prior date of March 2. The change of dates will now align the East Entrance to the seasonal openings and closures occurring at the Park’s other gates, thus standardizing the winter season in the Park.
The one exception is the road from the Park’s North Entrance at Gardiner through Mammoth Hot Springs to Cooke City. This road is plowed and open to automobiles all year.
All openings and closures will be subject to weather conditions.
In the past, avalanche concerns on Sylvan Pass led to a different operating season for the east gate, but “with many years of implementation, the NPS now has the operational capacity and expertise to safely open the pass on December 15 and to keep it open until March 15,” Yellowstone announced in an October release.
For Cody’s only snowmobile guide company, Gary Fales Outfitting, it could provide a substantial increase in business, with 20 more days to serve clients and make money each year.
Park regulations state that snowmobiles lose their certification after about six years of use, meaning Fales and her husband Gary will now get about 120 more commercial days out of each sled.

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Campbell County Hospital navigates hospital capacity concerns

GILLETTE (WNE) — An influx of patients and shortage of health care staff has created a conundrum for hospital administration to solve during the latest leg of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, hospital trustees approved Campbell County Memorial Hospital surgeons to perform surgeries at Powder River Surgery Center, where they are not credentialed for surgery, as needed while the surgical suites in the hospital are occupied by COVID-19 patient overflow.
The hospital is anticipating using some of the surgical suites to treat patients because its number of COVID-19 patients continues to grow and consume hospital space for other non-COVID-19 patients.
Staffing has been a persistent issue for CCH throughout the months-long wave of COVID-19. On average, between 80 and 130 employees have been away from work due to illness or quarantine through the past few months.
The hospital opened up a 10-bed alternate care site on the hospital’s fourth floor on Wednesday to care for some of the non-COVID-19 patients. The hospital has had less and less space for those patients since the number of COVID-19 patients has risen, said Misty Robertson, chief nursing operator.
Two separate Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, which are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and comprised of medical professionals, flew into Gillette to support the hospital.
The Wyoming Army National Guard has also allocated 10 soldiers to help perform non-medical jobs.
Some of the $10 million Gov. Mark Gordon freed up in CARES Act money recently was used to pay for and bring in traveling medical personnel to assist the hospital. CCH received about 30 health care workers through that program earlier this month.

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