Who gets the last ventilator at Salem Hospital: My next door neighbor or a Federal prisoner? This is not an awkward thought exercise. This is a real scenario that may occur soon at Salem Regional Medical Center in Salem, Ohio.
While I feel awful about the national COVID hotspots that you hear every day in the national news, I want to share a new story with you about an emerging COVID hotspot which is Northeastern Ohio, specifically here in Columbiana County.
The Federal Correctional Institution Elkton, (Elkton Prison) is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and is the only Federal prison in Ohio. Within the past five days, a COVID surge is happening at Elkton. On April 5, it was reported that seven inmates tested positive for COVID. On April 6, it was reported that 23 inmates and two staff members tested positive for COVID (this is out of 53 total COVID cases in the entire county). This in addition to the three Elkton prisoners who have died from COVID. This is included in the five total deaths in the county so far. It is also reported in the Salem News that 29 inmates are currently hospitalized at area hospitals, and nine of them are on ventilators.
Last month, it was reported by WKBN that more testing kits were requested from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, because Elkton Prison was initially only given FIVE testing kits for 2500 inmates. What is the real number of COVID cases at Elkton Prison? Is it possible that there could be 2500 cases of COVID at Elkton right now? CBS News is reporting that a local nursing home has given up on testing, and is assuming that ALL 450 residents and 300 employees have COVID. What if that happened at Elkton Prison?
Tonight, the local US Congressman, Bill Johnson, released a statement: “We’ve got to protect the staff and inmates at Elkton from the COVID-19 outbreak, and right now that facility is like a Petri dish, a breeding ground for the virus.” As you can probably guess, this “petri dish” of COVID cases do not practice social distancing. According to this article from The American Prospect, sources say that the “prison is ‘overrun’ with the virus.” In addition, in an article from Vice News, an inmate allegedly said, “They literally leaving us in here to die.”
This begs the next question: When federal prisoners are ill and need to go to the hospital, where do they go? No, they do not go to a hospital run by the Federal Government. They go to the hospitals that you and I go to for care. One of these hospitals is Salem Regional Medical Center. Salem Hospital has the same struggles of what is happening nationally: not enough ventilators and not enough PPE. Will this pending Federal Prison COVID surge overwhelm Salem Hospital? It is possible, and we’ll learn that very soon.
Before I go on, I want to give many thanks to Governor Dewine, Dr. Acton, and the officials from the State of Ohio who have been recognized locally, nationally, and internationally, for their response to the COVID epidemic. Unfortunately, as the Governor stated the state of Ohio has no jurisdiction on a Federal prison, and the state of Ohio can only help so much.
Now, I want to make it clear that I am not a spokesperson for Salem Hospital. As a Family Physician in the community, I do see patients at the hospital, but my statements here are of a concerned citizen. I’m concerned that Salem Hospital needs more resources from the Federal Government (namely more ventilators and more PPE) to help with the impending COVID surge from Elkton Federal Prison. There has a lot been written about supporting the prison, the staff at the prison, and the prisoners. But, what about supporting the hospitals that these prisoners are going to, and supporting the communities where these hospitals live?
You have read stories from New York City asking the question “Which Coronavirus Patients will get Life-Saving Ventilators?” With this impending Elkton COVID surge, those questions will also be asked soon if no help arrives. Why should the citizens of Salem, Ohio and Columbiana County have to be denied resources like a ventilator, if these resources are taken up by Federal prisoners? The situation of who should and who should not have a ventilator - should not happen.
I appreciate that Congressman Bill Johnson is involved in the situation. I’m also calling on Senators Brown and Portman to see what they can do to help the situation. Heck, I’m even asking President Trump to see if he can do anything to assist the citizens of Salem, Ohio and Columbiana County. Salem Hospital needs Federal resources, and hopefully we can make this happen.