The Wyandotte County population has been hard hit by COVID-19, both by the illness and also by unemployment that resulted from efforts to reduce its spread.
Unemployment has affected part of the population here, which may have avoided testing and treatment at clinics because they have lost their insurance when they lost their employment, according to Patrick Sallee, CEO of Vibrant Health.
He spoke during a news conference on Thursday morning at the University of Kansas Health System.
Unemployment was 3.8 percent in March in Wyandotte County, then it jumped to 14 percent by May, declining to 10.3 percent currently, according to Sallee.
COVID-19 has resulted in 25 percent fewer patients at Vibrant Health, he said, resulting in a loss of $1.7 million in patient revenue and also a loss in fundraising.
With the high unemployment is a loss of insurance among patients served by Vibrant Health, Sallee said. Forty-five percent of those seeking treatment at Vibrant Health, a clinic for the medically underserved, are uninsured, he said.
According to Sallee, anxiety levels, depression and stress levels are high, and he said many people are avoiding COVID-19 testing because they may not be able to afford to pay for the care required after a positive test.
Vibrant Health is offering pop-up tests at various sites in the community in conjunction with the Wyandotte County Health Equity Task Force and the Unified Government Health Department.
The tests here have a 30 percent positive rate compared to the 7 to 9 percent rate seen at KU Health System, according to Sallee.
He also has noticed the trend of patients delaying care during the pandemic, resulting in more serious conditions when they come in for treatment.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection control and prevention at KU Health System, said there were 25 COVID-19 patients on Thursday morning at KU Health System, down from 26 on Wednesday. Last week there was a peak of 36 COVID-19 patients at the hospital. Eleven patients are in the intensive care unit, up from five on Wednesday and six were on ventilators, an increase from three on Wednesday.
Wyandotte County reported a cumulative total of 4,740 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, an increase of 67 cases since Wednesday, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage. There were a cumulative total 98 deaths, an increase of two deaths since Wednesday.
Free testing offered
Free testing is offered from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Unified Government Health Department parking lot at 6th and Ann, Kansas City, Kansas. For more information, call 311.
For more information on who may be tested and what to bring, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.
The KU doctors’ news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/672481063355122.
The Wyandotte County school start order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask order and is in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan. For more information, residents may visit the UG COVID-19 website at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information or call 311 for more information.
The CDC’s COVID-19 web page is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.