OCTOBER
22 2021
Jones Memorial CEO: Get vaccinated to help hospital, ‘because it makes sense’ BY BOB CLARK BELMONT — The head of Allegany County’s largest hospital is urging residents to get vaccinated, “not because of any mandate, but because it makes sense.” Addressing the Allegany County Board of Legislators earlier this month, Jim Helms, CEO of Jones Memorial Hospital, asked legislators to help spread the word — get vaccinated and help the hospital which has been crushed under the weight of COVID-19 admissions. “Right now, we’re within the fourth wave,” he said, noting the hospital has so many patients that most evenings inpatient COVID-19 patients have to be kept in the emergency department. “I’m quite confident that if we don’t have a change in course, we’ll see a fifth wave, probably after the holidays.” The cause is simple, Helms said — more than half of all patients who have come to the hospital have tested positive for the virus, and between 80% and 90% were unvaccinated. “Allegany County’s low vaccination rate is truly stressing our hospital,” Helms said. The state Department of Health reported earlier this month that 39.8% of county residents were fully vaccinated, while 42.9% received at least one dose. Helms said patients as young as 30 have been kept for treatment, and some as young as 40 have gone on ventilators to survive. Typically, patients on ventilators have been sent to other hospitals with dedicated COVID-19 wards, but he said the latest cases have had to remain
Photo provided Jim Helms in Wellsville due to overwhelming demand placed on those wards. In September, Helms said he was working with the state to move three patients out of the hospital, checking with hospitals across Western and Central New York. “We never did find a bed for any of those three people,” he said, adding staff had to juggle patients — even moving patients into hallways for treatment to free up space in the ED. “Since then, it’s never let up.” While vaccines are not 100% effective at stopping transmission and illness from the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccines have been shown to reduce the potential for transmission and the severity of disease in breakthrough cases. Meanwhile, the CDC and FDA consider vaccines to be safe with serious side effects counted in the hundreds among the almost 400 million vaccine doses administered in the U.S.
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Photo by Wreaths Across America Wreaths Across America, a national organization, places wreaths at thousands of veterans’ graves at Christmastime.
Wreaths Across America coming to Cuba cemeteries BY KATHRYN ROSS CUBA — In the past, Wreaths Across America, a nationwide program that places wreaths on veteran’s graves in national cemeteries at Christmastime, has decorated the veterans cemetery in Bath. This year the event is coming a little closer to home with the help of the DAR. In January, the Catharine Schuyler Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution set a goal to place wreaths on veteran’s graves in Allegany County. But that task is so big, coordinator
Mary Lindquist said, that they are starting in Cuba this year, where they only need 550 wreathes to complete the task. “Can you imagine how many wreaths would be needed in some of the larger towns?” she said Wednesday as the group was getting ready for a fundraiser on Sunday to benefit the purchase of wreathes. The public is invited to attend a Wreaths Across America Benefit from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Palmer Opera House, where Nettie Productions will present live classic country music.
Admission is $5 or attendees may purchase a wreath for $15. The wreaths will be placed on graves in the Cuba and Catholic cemeteries. DAR members will place wreaths on a smaller cemetery behind the Cuba dam. “I’m from Cuba, so it is easiest to start in Cuba, but the DAR wants to see wreaths on veteran’s graves throughout the county,” Lindquist explained. Noting that to be able to cover the county coordinators and co-coordinators will be needed for each and every cemetery in the county. That
task is just too big at this time although Lindquist said she is ready to accept volunteers for the bigger project. For now, volunteers will be needed on Dec. 18, when the wreaths will be placed. While volunteers do not have to register, Lindquist said it would be beneficial for her to know just how much help she has. Volunteers will meet at noon at the grange on Medbury Avenue, where they can park. Shuttles will take them to the cemeteries. The deadline for
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