At 9am this morning, UNMC enacted a crisis plan due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a developing story.
The text of a news release is below. KLIN will have more information as it becomes available.
Omaha, Neb – We are facing a situation more difficult than any so far in the pandemic. The omicron variant is spreading in record numbers. Combined with the unprecedented demand for other health care services, COVID-19 increases the number of patients who need us and affects the number of colleagues we have available to care for them. As a result, we have activated our crisis plan.
Our Crisis Standards of Care plan is meant to help guide decisions when the demand for health care resources exceeds availability. The plan is based on core values that include our commitment to safety, transparency, equity and fairness.
Our leadership made the difficult decision to activate this plan today because our community’s demand for health care currently exceeds our available resources. We are in the first stage of our crisis continuum, which we are activating because of our unwavering commitment to patient safety. We are taking these steps in an effort to hopefully prevent the more difficult decisions that come later in the crisis continuum.
While our Crisis Standards of Care plan is activated, patients may experience some changes from previous appointments or hospital stays. Here are some examples of how patients could be impacted:
- Appointments may be rescheduled
- Fewer appointments available
- Surgeries may be postponed
- Clinical trials may be paused
- Medical students and other staff may be used as support personnel
- Patient transfers may be denied
- Non-patient areas like classrooms or conference rooms may be used for patient care