Health care providers in Billings are joining those around the nation in purchasing heavy-duty equipment so they can better treat obese patients.
Just over a year ago, St. Vincent Healthcare installed a new CT scanner that can accommodate patients weighing up to 650 pounds. Twice since then, trauma patients have been flown in from other parts of the state to use it.
"We have had patients who rub against the sides as they go through," said Dustin Strandell, the hospital's special imaging supervisor. "Anymore, we always go with the heaviest equipment we can get."
Almost one-third of American adults are overweight, another third are obese and 6 percent are extremely obese, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And it costs more to care for obese patients, from the more expensive equipment to the extra staffers needed to move or lift them.
"We talk about escalating health care dollars," said Dr. Christopher Sorli, director of endocrine services at Billings Clinic. "Look who's walking in the door. These people utilize health care dollars so much more than people who are not obese, particularly when the health care dollars are going to buy bigger equipment."
Hospitals have to be able to treat the people who seek care, even when that means buying specialty equipment needed to make that care possible, said Lu Byrd, vice president of hospital operations at Billings Clinic. "It's a population that deserves the same level of quality, safe care as everyone else. It's just part of what we do."
Billings Clinic's inpatient oncology unit was designed with rails in the ceilings for motorized lifts to help staff handle obese patients. Now the hospital is planning to retrofit its intensive care unit, Byrd said.
The Yellowstone County clinic, RiverStone Health, is planning to build an inpatient hospice home that can accommodate large people. Heavy-duty beds and commodes are in the plans, said Chere Allan, vice president of senior services for RiverStone.
Three years ago, American Medical Response ambulance service invested in gurneys that can haul 650-pound patients, said operations manager Melody Westmoreland.
"Our employees are trained for lifting and moving all different sized patients, and especially larger patients," she said.
At St. Vincent, two operating tables can hold patients weighing up to 1,000 pounds, recovery units are stocked with larger hospital gowns and armless chairs with a 500-pound weight limit are available throughout the hospital.
Sorli, an expert in human metabolism, is among those trying to find a way to fool the brain out of slowing the body's metabolism following a reduction in caloric intake. He said he's seen patients gain weight on 1,000 calories a day, or about half the recommended intake for adults.
Meanwhile, Americans have to change their activity levels and eating habits, Sorli said.
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Information from: Billings Gazette, http://www.billingsgazette.com
