According to reports, the 78-year-old retired school superintendent was reportedly diagnosed with sepsis in November and hoped to get treatment before the holidays. But, unfortunately, as COVID-19 cases around the country surged, finding a hospital bed at a large medical facility in Iowa became difficult for the man.
The 78-year-old man from Iowa, Dale Weeks, was taken to a small rural hospital for treatment. He had to wait 15 days to be transferred over to a large hospital with better treatment options, according to reports.
Dale’s family reportedly said that he was unable to get the treatment he needed right away because hospital systems in Iowa were overwhelmed by the high number of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients.
His daughter Jennifer Owenson reportedly said: “It was terribly frustrating being told, ‘There’s not a bed yet.’ All of us were talking multiple times a day, ‘Why can’t we get him a bed?’ There was this logjam to get him in anywhere.”
By the time he was able to have surgery, his condition started to deteriorate and he died on Nov. 28 of complications related to surgery, according to reports.
Dale’s son, Anthony Weeks, reportedly said:
“The frustrating thing was not that we wanted him to get care that others weren’t getting, but that he didn’t get care when he needed it. And when he did get it, it was too late. The question comes up of: ‘Who was in those beds?’ If it’s people who are unvaccinated with COVID, then that’s the part where it really hurts.”
“The thing that bothers me the most is people’s selfish decision not to get vaccinated and the failure to see how this affects a greater group of people. That’s the part that’s really difficult to swallow.” Anthony also said, according to reports.
According to reports, MercyOne spokesperson Marcy Peterson reportedly said:
“In addition to an increased number of COVID-19 cases and spread of the delta and omicron variants, hospitals across the country are dealing with traumas and experiencing multiple types of illness. This demand is coupled with a reduced number of staff to care for patients. These challenges can strain available resources and contribute to delays in care or other complications for patients.”
She noted that unvaccinated people make up a large percentage of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
This story will be updated as new information become available.