Q&A: PRMC administrator talks COVID-19 and hospital issues

Plains Regional Medical Center Administrator Jorge Cruz talked to The News on Friday regarding the hospital’s current COVID-19 numbers, vaccination and the Omicron variant. As of Friday, PRMC had not recorded an Omicron case.

Q: How many COVID-19 patients on average have been in the hospital so far in December?

Cruz: Starting in mid-November, that was when we saw an increase. In December, we’re seeing 20 to 25 COVID patients in house (hospitalized), and that’s including the ICU as well. We’ve seen anywhere between four and five (daily) in our ICU that were COVID positive.

Q: How many COVID-19 deaths has PRMC reported so far in December?

Cruz: Eight so far.

Q: How do your hospitalization rates fare compared to other Presbyterian facilities in the state?

Cruz: Obviously, we’ve been busy as far as hospitalizations. That is relative to the size of our facility. I can tell you our hospitalization rates here are high. We’re seeing anywhere between 20 and 25 patients a day, and rarely have we come off of that number.

Q: What impact is this having on non-COVID treatment and surgeries?

Cruz: We’ve had to suspend elective surgeries twice now. The last time was in late October. We restarted elective surgeries around early November. We’ve had to suspend some of our elective surgery just for the benefit of night staff. It’s not different than anything any other healthcare system is doing. We just have to roll with the punches and think outside of the box. That does lead to us suspending some of our procedures.

Q: Are you seeing any impacts yet from the start of the flu season?

Cruz: We have seen some flu, but nowhere near what we’re accustomed to pre-COVID. We’re around 60-plus as far as flu cases so far this season (largely unhospitalized cases). Last year, it almost felt like flu was nonexistent.

Q: What’s the breakdown of COVID hospitalizations for vaccinated versus unvaccinated? Have boosters had any impact on those ratios?

Cruz: We don’t keep track of it. I know state data says a little over 80% are unvaccinated. I would say a majority are unvaccinated. I think it’s still too early.

(Editor’s note: The New Mexico Department of Health reported Wednesday that between Nov. 15 and Dec. 13, unvaccinated New Mexicans accounted for 72% of overall COVID-19 cases, 81.2% of overall hospitalizations and 81.8% of deaths).

Q: Do you anticipate an additional wave with the Omicron variant over the next few months?

Cruz: It’s still kind of early to determine whether there will be an impact or what kind of impact. I know early data shows Omicron is more transmissible than Delta. It’s also showing it’s less severe than Delta. I would assume we’d see some kind of impact, but it’s hard to say exactly what impact it will be, especially with hospitalization.

Q: Any closing thoughts?

Cruz: Obviously things have been tough, but we’ve been able to figure things out on the go. The staff is working tirelessly to try to get through this for what I would call our third surge. It hasn’t been quite as severe as during our second surge, when we saw numbers in the 30 to 35 range (hospitalized daily). Our team has been amazing; it really has.