Due to rising numbers of respiratory illnesses in the county, officials at MultiCare Yakima Memorial Hospital are asking area residents to first consult their primary care provider or visit an urgent care clinic before visiting the hospital’s Emergency Department for non-emergency situations.
According to RSV and flu hospitalization reports collected by the Yakima Health District and reported by local hospitals, including Memorial, there have been 14 positive flu cases and one positive RSV case at county hospitals since the beginning of October. During that same time, nearly 1,000 flu tests and 500 RSV tests were administered.
Dr. Tanny Davenport, chief medical officer at Memorial, said the hospital has seen an increase in influenza, COVID-19 and pneumonia cases that require hospitalizations.
“All those things together, including the stresses on our own workforces as they get ill, is that we are having challenges and are at capacity conditions at the hospital,” Davenport said.
He urged community members to get vaccines for the flu, COVID-19 and if eligible, for the new RSV vaccine as soon as possible.
“We ask that people save those non-emergent visits that historically have gone to our emergency room for either urgent care clinics in the area or wait until they can see their primary care providers early next week,” Davenport said. “All those things together I think could really help contain and limit the disease burden in our community.”
Davenport also recommended people use masks if they are going out in public and to stay home if they feel sick.
Last year saw historically high numbers of flu and RSV in the county. At the highest point in early and mid-December, close to 300 cases of flu and 50 cases of RSV were being reported weekly.
Davenport said while trends are nowhere near those numbers this year, the flu season did start earlier than usual.
“This late November time frame is earlier than we’ve seen in recent years, but that’s the nature of these viral illnesses,” Davenport said. “Every season is a little bit different.”
The Yakima Health District keeps an updated list of pharmacies in the county and what vaccines they offer on its website.
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