JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — A doctor on the front line is sharing what it's like to care for COVID patients every day, again, after he hoped the end to the pandemic was near.
"It's bad, it's bad," Dr. Jay Miller, a critical care physician on the westbank said.
Dr. Miller is used to caring for patients with common emergencies like heart attacks, car crashes, or post-op cases in the ICU. Right now though, he's seeing double or triple the number of patients on a typical day and they are almost all COVID patients.
"All those other illnesses or routine things that happen to people in the community, aren’t in the ICU because there's no room in the ICU for those patients," he said.
He explained that hospitals are redirecting staff from some departments to care for the influx of COVID patients.
"Our surgical wing of the ICU is completely filled with COVID," Dr. Miller said.
It's putting non-emergency surgeries on hold.
"I also see patients as a lung doctor so there are some patients with masses, suspicious parts of their lungs that need biopsies. Those sort of surgeries are unable to be performed at this time due to the lack of beds," he said.
He explains that when the ICU is full, patients who need a bed either have to wait in the emergency room or find another hospital.
"For anyone who thinks it's about them or just about their rights to get a vaccine or not get a vaccine, think about grandmothers falling and not having a hospital bed for them," he said.
Dr. Miller has been on the other side. At the start of the pandemic in April 2020, he spent a week in the ICU at UMC battling COVID-19. He was 39 years old at the time.
"Going through COVID and being in an ICU bed and writing my wife a goodbye letter while I was in the ICU, compared to getting a shot in my arm, it's silly thinking there's anyone who wouldn’t opt for the latter," he said.
As he cares for COVID patients every day, he worries for his family including his 10-month-old daughter who is too young to get vaccinated.
"I live in constant fear that I will bring this home and give it to her, which I don’t know how I'd live with myself if that happened," Dr. Miller said.
He's left with a feeling of uncertainty. He wonders how long this fourth surge will last and how much more health care workers can take.
"It's tough. I go to work every day and try to smile, but it's getting harder and harder," Dr. Miller said.
Currently, there are just over 2,900 people hospitalized with COVID in Louisiana, the highest ever. 91 percent are not vaccinated, according to LDH data.