Breaking: Crisis Standards of Care activated in northern Idaho

Catie Clark//September 7, 2021//

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Kootenai Health provides medical care to rural northern Idaho. Photo by Sharon Fisher

At the request of Kootenai Health, which operates three hospitals and several clinics in northern Idaho, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) has activated Idaho’s Crisis Standards of Care in the Panhandle and the North Central health districts. In a statement issued on the morning of Sept. 7, IDHW said the reason for the activation was “a severe shortage of staffing and available beds in the northern area of the state caused by a massive increase in patients with COVID-19 who require hospitalization.” The activation affects 10 critical access and acute care hospitals in the two northernmost health districts in the state.

Crisis Standards of Care is guidance for rationing health care in the event of a natural disaster or other catastrophic event that may overwhelm the capacity of the health care system to deliver care to all patients.

“Crisis standards of care is a last resort. It means we have exhausted our resources to the point that our health care systems are unable to provide the treatment and care we expect,” said IDHW Director Dave Jeppesen. “This is a decision I was fervently hoping to avoid. The best tools we have to turn this around is for more people to get vaccinated and to wear masks indoors and in outdoor crowded public places. Please choose to get vaccinated as soon as possible — it is your very best protection against being hospitalized from COVID-19.”