RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont hospital is developing a plan that would allow COVID-19 patients to recover at homes, rather than in the hospital.
Kathleen Boyd of the Rutland Regional Medical Center is working with other providers to develop the system as part of discharge planning for patients who are willing and if they have support at home.
Boyd told the Rutland Herald the program is national, but they are developing it for local use.
“We wanted to make sure that people who are being admitted to the hospital (are the ones who) require care that can only be delivered at a hospital,” Boyd said.
Dr. Rick Hildebrant, the chief medical information officer at the Rutland hospital, said that typically 2% to 5% of all COVID-19 patients will require hospitalization. About a quarter of those could be eligible for the home-care program.
“These are people who are pretty sick,” Hildebrant said Tuesday.
As important as the clinical criteria is in determining who would be eligible is the social component. Patients need to have support at home.
But if the hospital gets hit hard by COVID-19 admissions, the program could help free up space in the hospital, he said.
It’s expected the program will begin within the next few weeks.
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