-September 23,2020-

Recent Sierra wildfires have torched  hundreds of family cabins in the Sierra around Huntington Lake above Fresno and above Porterville at Sierra Crest and nearby tracts.

At Huntington Lake the massive Creek Fire destroyed 74 cabins in 4 neighborhoods according the volunteer fire department.  Many were family owned seasonal cabins used by multiple generations.  Hardest hit was the Huckleberry tract  along the Northside of the lake where 44 cabins were lost. There are 420 privately owned cabins at the lake..

Above Porterville the month long  lighting-caused  SQF Complex wildfire has meant the loss of 191 residential and commercial structures.Damage was  dramatic near Highway  190 at  Alpine Village that saw 50 structures destroyed and 14 still in tact. Also hit was Sequoia Crest where 42 structures were destroyed and 59 still intact and Cedar Slope that suffered 26 structures destroyed- 15 still intact and 2 damaged.

Sequoia Crest is mostly filled with summer cabins  surrender by large Sequoia trees. The County says the Stagg Tree – the 5th largest Sequoia in the world located here was unharmed by the fire.The vast majority of cabins in this tract are used as vacation cabins.Some  42 of them have gone up in flames. 

One owner who rents out their cabin posted a notice online.”It is with great sadness that I report OUR CABIN BURNED TO THE GROUND along with 42 other cabins in Sequoia Crest on Sept. 13th. 59 cabins survived. The 130,000 acre Castle Fire has burned most of the cabins in the nearby communities of Alpine Village and Cedar Slope. The fire is still burning. It is just one of the more than two dozen wildfires burning in California. “

Kings jobless rate improves

EDD has announced that the unemployment rate in Kings County was 10.7 percent in August 2020, down from a revised 13.0 percent in July 2020, and above the year-ago estimate of 6.9 percent.Year-over-year, Kings had 3100 fewer non-farm jobs than year ago.The largest categories are government jobs – down 1000, hospitality jobs -down 800 and manufacturing- down 500.Farm jobs year-over-year are down 800 to 7000, not as dramatic a drop as Kern and Tulare Counties where farm jobs have decreased by one third compared to a year earlier.

High Speed Rail project milestones

California High Speed Rail project in Kings County is working on two highly visible structures in the county this fall.The two are the long-awaited Kings River bridge and the mile-long plus Hanford Viaduct.

At the Kings River bridge, test pile foundation work is now complete. Construction of the substructure is scheduled to begin in mid-October dependent on permit approvals, says spokesperson Toni Tinoco.

At the Hanford Viaduct, construction crews completed pile-driving nearly 7,000 production piles needed to provide foundation support for the sprawling structure. The viaduct at 6,300 feet in length, will take high-speed trains over Grangeville Boulevard, San Joaquin Valley Railroad, and State Route 198.

At the northern segment of the Hanford Viaduct near Grangeville Boulevard, crews continue to erect the concrete columns needed to support the top of the structure. Crews continue to work north to south, hoisting the forms for the columns into place toward the middle section of the viaduct before concrete is poured to form the column.

In the middle of the Hanford Viaduct, crews are fine grading the bottom of the bridge footings with rock. Off in the distance, crews continue to work going north, driving concrete piles needed to provide support for the structure.

Construction over State Route 198 is scheduled for this coming Spring.The Hanford Viaduct is the longest structure on the high-speed rail project to date. A planned elevated train station will be just north of that portion that crosses 198.

Curti vs Corcoran lawsuits grind on

Farm groups continue to gather support for Curtimade Dairy who is fighting a $65 million lawsuit brought by the City of Corcoran over alleged contamination of city water supplies. In the past few weeks Tulare County Farm Bureau has collected donations to help the Curti family in their battle with the city. Farm Bureau leaders say they are concerned  about the precedent aspects the lawsuit might mean.

But this past week in a ruling on Sept 17 in Tulare County Superior Court the dairy lost a round in a countersuit against the city for inverse condemnation and other motions observes Corcoran City manager Kindon Meik.” Our attorneys say the court has ruled in our favor on all motions in the case so far.”

As to the city’s lawsuit Meik says this court case is still year off adding he continues to hope for a settlement.

The dispute is now in its fifth year against the 100 year-old dairy charged with allowing nitrates from manure to taint the city water wells. The suit dates from December 2018.

The Curti family have said that if they lose they could go out of business.They argue that the city should negotiate with landowners and want the city to seek public funds to drill new wells and seek grants.

Hospital offers rapid COVID test for locals

Kaweah Delta is rolling out deployment of rapid COVID-19 antigen-based testing in Tulare County for symptomatic and asymptomatic patients which will provide results within 24 hours.

The District first launched testing on the Quidel Sofia-2 platform, a rapid lab analyzer, at Visalia Medical Clinic in late August, but last week, Kaweah Delta made the rapid testing available at its Exeter Health Clinic. In coming weeks, the rapid testing will be available at Kaweah Delta’s Dinuba and Lindsay health clinics, Sequoia Health & Wellness Centers, and Kaweah Delta Urgent Care Centers.

CEO Gary Herbst says “It allows us to do just a swab of the nostril. We no longer have to go deep up into the sinus cavity, so it’s much more comfortable for our patients and it’s a quick result test,” said Herbst, noting that the District purchased 20 analyzers in partnership with the Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency using CARES act funds. “While this test itself can be done in 15 minutes, we are expecting to run them in batches

throughout the day. Our goal is to process everything on the same day so you get your results that evening or the next morning.”

To get tested, people can call Kaweah Delta’s free COVID-19 Screening Hotline at 559-624-4110, available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The District recently acquired 20 analyzers in partnership with the Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency using CARES act funds. The antigen test uses a less-invasive swab in the front of the nose, which the analyzer can process in 15 minutes.

Rapid results tests are considered a game changer in the fight against the pandemic. Experts say tests allow the most basic task in disease control: Identify the sick, and separate them from the well. When tests are abundant, they can dispel the fear of contagion that has stopped normal life. “The only thing that makes a difference in the economy is public health, and the only thing that makes a difference in public health is testing” says one.

Rapid testing with the same technology will allow the Big 12 football season to begin using Quidel to allow for daily coronavirus testing. Quidel’s Sofia 2 testing machine is expected to be available on each Pac-12 campus by the end of this month. The Big 12 testing protocols call for three tests per week.

The rapid test can help improve patient care as well.The rapid test has given providers peace of mind, said Tate Gordon, a Physician Assistant-Certified, who cares for patients at Visalia Medical Clinic’s walk-in clinic, QuickCare. “It’s been amazing to have someone walk in with symptoms and minutes later have results and know exactly what’s wrong with them,” he said. “This virus is scary. You don’t know what’s going to happen to people. Having immediate results means I can watch them over the next week to make sure they are OK.”

In Kings County, Adventist Health offers Rapid COVID-19 testing for all patients who are admitted through the Emergency and Surgery departments and for its employees.

Pandemic doesn’t scare away Halloween candy sales

When the going gets tough – the tough turn to chocolates. New data from the National Confectioners Association shows that Halloween chocolate and candy sales are up this year. For the latest four weeks ending September 6 versus the same period in 2019, total Halloween chocolate & candy sales are up 13% – growth that is driven by Halloween chocolate, which is up 25.3%. The grocery channel is a key driver for the growth of Halloween chocolate and candy sales as consumer behaviors continue to evolve during the pandemic and more people shop at grocery stores more often. In the grocery channel alone, Halloween chocolate and candy sales are up 17.1% even though no one expects lots of kids going trick or treating this year.

-September 23,2020-

200 unit apartment in Visalia planned

Property owner TriCounty Bank is building a 200-unit apartment complex the vacant northeast corner of Doe and Shirk across across from the  Visalia Industrial Park. The $4 million project obtained a building permit on September 15.The project also features a 4500sf community building.

Downtown Visalia losing Mechanic’s Bank 

Bay area-based Mechanic’s Bank, formerly Rabobank , will close their Downtown Visalia branch according to  notice posted by the state. The bank will close 10  West Coast branches.  The bank will retain its Mooney branch located at the Sequoia Mall. The Downtown branch will shut their doors Friday Sept 25 at noon.

Visalia’s top three banks listed

FDIC’s annual despot market share report for Visalia, published June 30 shows the top three banks in Visalia retained their ranking and gained hundreds of millions in their deposits in the past year. The regulatory agency says Bank of Sierra was the top bank by deposits and market share but fell from 20.29% market share to 19.78%. Still the locally based bank deposits rose in the past year from  $1 billion to $1.2 billion inside the market.

The number two bank is Bank of America whose market share fell slightly from 17.81% to 17.67%. Local deposits grew from $941 million to $1.1 billion. Third is Wells Fargo whose market share  climbed from 15.62% to 16.10%. Deposits grew from $825 million to $1 billion.

The FDIC says the 14 banks it ranked in Visalia held $6.2 billion in deposits as of June 2020 compared  to $5.2 billion  as of June 2019.

Among the smaller banks Suncrest Bank moved up in the ranking from 6th in deposits to 4th.

Tulare County jobless rate falls in August – ag jobs took big hit in pandemic

The unemployment rate in Tulare County was 13.1 percent in August 2020, down from a revised 16.1 percent in July 2020, and above the year-ago estimate of 9.2 percent.  This compares with an unadjusted  unemployment rate of 11.6 percent for California and 8.5 percent for the nation.

Farm jobs in  the county in August are down by 13,599 from 42,600 in Aug 2019 to 29,1000 in August 2020  -about a one third drop. Fresno and Kings counties show a much more modest drop in farm jobs while Kern ag jobs also declined year over year by about 33%.

In the non-farm category, education and health jobs declined by 3000, government jobs were down 2100 and hospitality jobs fell by 1900.

Kaweah Delta’s new assisted living project hurt by pandemic

In 2016 Kaweah Delta approved construction of a new 120-unit independent, assisted, and memory care senior living project called Quail Park at Shannon Ranch near the intersection of Demaree and Flagstaff in northwest Visalia. 

Kaweah Delta owns 33 and one third percent of the new project, which is held by Northwest Visalia Senior Housing. Other partners are the Shannon family, Bernard te Velde,  Cathy Boshaw and Doug Eklund of the Seattle area and  Millennium Advisors is owned primarily by Denis Bryant, the current managing partner of Quail Park and the Memory Care Center.

The new approximately $40 million project broke ground in March 2018 and was completed in early 2020.

Then the pandemic hit, the hospital board heard in a report this month suggesting a high level of red ink for the startup.The hospital foundation contributed around $4 million for its share.

Before COVID-19, management expected that occupancy of the main building would reach 50% within 90 days of opening and that the memory care center would be completely filled within that time frame. Early deposits and waiting lists supported this. However, occupancy of the independent living building is 9% as of August 2020 and the memory care is at 35%. An additional 18 deposits have been received, but the individuals have not moved in.

The report says  “As a result, Quail Park at Shannon Ranch generated an operating loss of $631,569 from March 2020 to June 2020. Combined with non-operating expenses, which include pre-opening expenses, loan fees, interest, depreciation, and management, the total net income/(loss) was ($3,248,955) through June 2020. Owners of Northwest Visalia Senior Housing have made a series of four cash calls to fund operations. These contributions are being treated as loans payable. To date, Kaweah Delta has made loan payments totaling $539,833 which was paid by the hospital’s foundation.. These loans have a maturity date of December 31, 2021 and pay 5% interest. Kaweah Delta’s accrued interest is $5,454 as of June 30, 2020.

 “The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on senior living could not have been predicted. Management of Quail Park at Shannon Ranch have continued to actively promote the facility, providing both in-person and virtual tours. The sales staff routinely delivers meals to individuals that have expressed interest in Quail Park as a way to stay in touch with potential residents. The facility is also very active on social media. Various discounts are being offered to entice people to move in now.

It is anticipated that once COVID-19 volumes decline, Quail Park at Shannon Ranch will see a significant increase in deposits and people moving into the facilities.” concludes the report

 US solar module shipments double vs 2019

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) publishes a monthly PV module shipment report. Through July shipments are a surprising double in number compared to the same time in 2019 – around 10 million units despite the pandemic shutdown. Locally the pace is down slightly with Tulare County residential solar projects numbering 1754 through mid September of this year compared to 2207 by the same date in 2019.

 UPDATE: Oct 1-Visalia Mayor Bob Link has confirmed Amazon will be coming to Visalia at a Visalia City Council meeting

Two side-by-side mega distribution projects promise 1600 jobs

UPS & Amazon offer huge boost to  Visalia Industrial Park

-September 9,2020-

After 2 years of construction activity United Parcel Service (UPS) plans to open their new 450,000sf distribution hub on Plaza at Riggin in the Visalia Industrial Park early next month. UPS spokesperson Kim Krebs says when it opens the “new Visalia package sortation and distribution center will create more than 625 new full-and part-time well-paying jobs.”

Contractors are packing up now after erecting the 88 acre complex that includes several outbuildings, a truck maintenance facility, fuel center, customer service center and entrance station besides the main tilt-up concrete building with its advanced package sorting conveyor system. UPS bought the land in summer of 2017 from CapRock Partners adding 30 acres last fall from the same party.

But wait,as they say ..there’s more.

Right next door to UPS there is some surprise news from another mega-shipper. Amazon is the unnamed mystery logistics center that is now under construction with a 1.3 million square ft distribution center of their own – one of their “fulfillment centers” that typically employ 1000 or more. Amazon has not announced the Visalia project but the contractor on the job Gray Construction based in Kentucky is an Amazon contractor and at the job site today.The company secured the city building permit.

Blake Steel with Gray Construction says this will be the third Amazon center he has worked on and says they will be complete in 11 months. Some 300 construction workers will be needed during the busiest months of the Visalia project.

A typical scenario played out in Fresno with the distribution center built and open in less than a year. In Fresno’s case “During peak times, the fulfillment center ships over 1 million packages per day and has created over 3,500 jobs within the immediate area” says a report.

If Fresno has one, Bakersfield too now has seen completion of a 4-story Amazon complex near their airport, expected to open September 6,according to the Bakersfield Californian.

The new general manager told the press there “This is one of the most advanced buildings that Amazon has,” he said, adding that the building — four stories, each about the size of 11 football fields — is the company’s 26th “fulfillment center” in California.”

Make that the 27th – counting Visalia.

Like UPS, Amazon is not just hiring robots to do the work. Amazon has more than 110 active fulfillment centers in the US and more than 185 centers globally. Now we are on the map

Property owner Newport-based CapRock Partners has been working on this 1.3 million “spec building” for over a year and just received City of Visalia approval to begin construction with grading of the empty site starting last week. Electric power to the site for construction is being added this week to the new address- 3315 N Kelsey.The building has a million sf at ground level and a 300,000sf mezzanine.

CapRocks’ President Patrick Daniels said he could not comment who the tenant was for the big building, what will be by far Visalia’s largest – almost 10 Costcos for comparison. Daniels has been working on their 640 acre industrial park – they call it the Visalia Logistics Center – since 2006 when he first visited Visalia drawn by developer Richard Allen and his successful effort to bring in VF Corp to Visalia in 2005. VF, a major local employer, is another big UPS customer who came to town because UPS ships by ground from Visalia to most of California in less time than almost all other competitive locations. Scores of other firms have suggested that is why, they too, chose Visalia.

With the coming of these two new shippers, the City of Visalia already is planning to widen Riggin from Plaza to Shirk in coming months as well as punching Kelsey north that will allow Amazon street access.The Riggin and Kelsey intersection will now be signaled. Riggin is already busy with truck traffic with the new connection to Highway 99 ( Betty Drive Interchange) that fully opened in the past year.

As for jobs at Amazon the Bakersfield location is a close model, offering warehousing jobs paying $15 to start, the company says, and full-time employees immediately qualify for comprehensive health benefits as well as a 401(k) program with a 50 percent company match. Amazon also offers to pay 95 percent of tuition for college courses in in-demand fields, regardless of whether that education relates to their current job with Amazon.

Amazon.com also said last week it received federal approval to establish a fleet of drones and will begin limited tests of package deliveries to customers in the U.S., although a number of key steps remain before widespread use of the technology will be allowed

Besides drones, both UPS and Amazon promises a green fleet of delivery vehicles based in the Visalia Industrial Park.

What will be the impact on government of a new Amazon logistic center here? A summary of Amazon’s 2019 U.S. taxes they reported includes:

•Over $1 billion in federal income tax expense.
•More than $2.4 billion in other federal taxes, including payroll taxes and customs duties.
•More than $1.6 billion in state and local taxes, including payroll taxes, property taxes, state income taxes, and gross receipts taxes.
•Last year alone, Amazon collected and remitted nearly $9 billion in sales and use taxes to states and localities throughout the U.S. The recent enactment of “marketplace laws” by 40 states allows Amazon to legally collect state and local sales and use taxes on behalf of third-party sellers who sell their goods on their platform.

If Amazon is the golden boy company, UPS and their stock has been on a tear recently as well, propelled by a surge in e-commerce activity this year as a result of COVID. UPS stock has doubled since May.

UPS is developing more so-called super-hubs across the US handling more shipments using highly automated technology.The trend is continuing as demand for same-day service accelerates fueled by more internet shopping and door-to-door delivery.

The company is gearing up for the holiday shipping season 2020 in Visalia a year earlier than Amazon will do here – for the holiday season of 2021.

With all those internet orders a recent analysis expects that e-commerce will require more than 3x the logistics space of brick-and-mortar sales, according to 2019 data.

Global e-commerce sales are projected to more than double to $6.5 trillion by 2023, according to Statista. The Boston Consulting Group estimates U.S. e-commerce sales will double too, to $1 trillion, growing at six times the rate of all retail transactions.

Those projections came before the coronavirus pandemic, which has prompted an explosion in online shopping by people avoiding brick-and-mortar stores because of stay-home orders or fear of being infected by the virus. Best Buy recently reported that e-commerce sales grew 242% from the year-ago quarter and now represent 53% of total sales.

VF Corp recently posted e-commerce earnings enjoying a surge as well.

The side-by-side locations of UPS and Amazon in Visalia may encourage a mutual feeding frenzy in our future. Amazon is UPS’ largest customer, accounting for almost 12% of UPS’ $74 billion in revenue last year.

Besides taxes, payroll and the job impacts of the double powerhouses of UPS and Amazon, the developments will clearly draw more companies to Visalia say officials. Already 5 more spec buildings are nearing completion within a country block of the two centers.

CapRock itself has 300 more acres just to the north of the Amazon/UPS sites and Fresno developer John Brelsford ,who already has a dozen tenant-filled big buildings in the industrial park, has 150 acres at the NWC of Plaza and Riggin. CapRock too has plans to build another 500,000sf spec building just north of Amazon.

The coming of all this new industry along the city’s northern edge is going to further juice homebuilding in this area and spur other development along Riggin that now ties to Hwy 99 – a continuous 4-lane artery.To the west of Plaza, Brelsford plans several million square feet of new industrial space and sources say Tevelde has long range plans to annex land not yet in the city north of Riggin,plenty more land almost to Hwy 99.

August 19,2020-

Setton Pistachios of Terra Bella plans to expand their storage capacity at there big nut plant in town. The company will have hearing thus week at the Board of Supervisors to expand their storage capacity by around 50% adding 24 new silos expanding capacity from 90 million pounds to 133 million pounds. Each new silo holds 1.8 million pounds.

The company is also dealing with a Cease and Desist order from the state and seeks to improve its waste water treatment .The company will add more pipeline adding pre clean lines as well as lengthen the pipeline to improve odor controls.

Setton is the number two pistachio processor in the state behind the Wonderful Co.

Water used during pistachio processing is beneficially reused. Presently, up to 3 million gallons per day and 60 million gallons per year of wastewater is filtered and applied for beneficial reuse for irrigation of 483 acres of orchards.

The applicant does not seek to increase the amount of wastewater beyond these amounts. However, to mitigate the potential of the wastewater to create objectionable odors, and to improve the water quality of water stored at the existing ponds, the project includes a request to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board to the land application area for the wastewater, and reduce the amount of stored volume in the ponds.

Specifically, the proposed Project includes the applicant’s proposal to expand its application of process water and construct new pipeline to irrigate a total of 892 acres of agricultural fields, an increase of 409 acres compared to existing conditions.
The Project is anticipated to begin construction in mid-August 2020 and will be completed between late August 2020 and early September 2020

-July 26,2020-

Indoor “Soccer City” for Downtown Visalia

Legacy Investments plans a 30,000sf indoor “Soccer City “ complete with brewery and tap house on Johnson and Murray in Downtown Visalia according to a recent filing.The site at 707 W Murray is a former wholesale pipe  ales yard, long vacant, located near Glicks. The remodeled indoor recreation space would have 2 soccer fields,  the tap room, brewery and party room. The project would leave 1.44 acres vacant on the west end of the property.The 3.5 acre property is owned by American Inc.

Main St Theater could be converted to hotel

Legacy Investments plans to convert the old Main Street Theater in Downtown into a 24 unit, two- story hotel or temporary “micro-living” space. The application offers an example of the need for temporary living space for medical employees.

The building was purchased a few years ago by JR Shanon after a tussle between the City of Visalia and then tenant Enchanted Playhouse, who rented from the city.The children’s theatre group has relocated.

The small hotel would be the second new lodging converted in Downtown now that the Darling Hotel has opened – remodeled from a former county court annex. The Main St Theater exterior would retain its historic look according to a city agreement. Parking would be in the parking structure behind the quonset-style building.

New green office park in works

Toor Development has submitted conceptual plans to build a 35- acre office park that would include an 80-room hotel near Plaza Drive. Crowley Office Park would feature shaded spaces – heavily landscaped in contrast to most office and industrial projects in the Industrial Park.The office complex would feature a 3-acre park in the middle of a plaza  surrounded by 2 and 3-story buildings adding up to 361,000sf . The project would be located at the NWC of Crowley and Hurley, north 198 and east of Plaza.

CarMax denies they pulled request

Sierra2thesea reported last week  that” For the second time, CarMax has pulled their application to build a 5-acre used car dealership on south Mooney Blvd. The matter had been set for public hearing in front of the Visalia City Council this week but the company withdrew their request. Council member Steve Nelsen says he understands they may still re-file.” In response CarMax  emailed this reporter saying that they did not withdraw their application. Source says the matter will come back the city counil later next month.

San Joaquin Valley College layoffs

San Joaquin Valley College has laid off at least  57 employees permanently in Tulare County according to state WARN notices this month.The layoffs come as COVID cuts school enrollment.

-July 24,2020-

Kern County s COVID -19 case has gone from around 150 new cases to 10 times that number on July 22 after hitting 1000 a day as of July 21.

bakerfield.com called the increase “astounding”.

“An astounding 1,120 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Kern County Wednesday, a nearly tenfold increase over the number of daily cases reported in recent weeks.

It’s not just jaw-dropping by our own measure. Kern has had the second- or third-highest number of daily cases of any county statewide in the past several days, behind only Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

Why are Kern’s numbers so high?

It appears to be caused by a confluence of factors including high demand for testing, backlogs in processing tests, both at labs and when results are received by the county, and the plain fact there is more widespread transmission of the disease in the community.

Kern County Public Health Services Department said in a statement explaining the high case counts:

“Over the last several weeks we have observed a significant increase in testing at our county and state testing sites. Some of our sites have experienced a four-fold increase that has been sustained over the last few weeks.

“Contracted labs (Quest and Westpac) have notified us that they are experiencing shortages with testing supplies and laboratory reagent and their turnaround time is extended with results not being received for 7 days or more in many instances.”

-July 23,2020-

VISALIA – With COVID-19 numbers on the rise across the nation and throughout the State, Kaweah Delta Medical Center, the largest acute care hospital in Tulare County, announced Thursday it was caring for 81 COVID-19 patients – the highest number of COVID-19 patients the hospital has cared for to date.

“These are serious times right now. It is clearly much different than March and April where we were sitting on the edge of our seat holding our breath, waiting for the New York experience to come our way and it never did, but now it has arrived,” said Gary Herbst, Kaweah Delta’s Chief Executive Officer, noting. “I wouldn’t say that we are experiencing what New York and New Jersey experienced, but it is getting increasingly more serious.”

Of the 81 patients in the hospital, 37 were in critical care either in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit or in its step down ICU, and 13 of those patients were on ventilators, Herbst said, noting that the Medical Center’s occupancy was at 90 percent. On Thursday, of its 330 physical beds available for adults (excluding Maternal Child Health, which includes Labor and Delivery, Mother-Baby, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Pediatrics, etc.), Herbst said 297 of those beds were occupied, 81 by COVID-19 positive patients, which left 33 physical beds open for adult patients. However, the challenge, Herbst said, was staffing those beds.

“We could probably only staff a handful of those beds,” he said, noting that with 80 employees in quarantine and a number of others on leave, Kaweah Delta is experiencing staffing challenges as many others are across the state.

The Visalia hospital continues to work on staffing solutions, which include incentivizing clinical staff to work additional shifts and hiring additional clinical staff, along with student nurse interns. Kaweah Delta is also training all registered nurses on staff with a license so that when needed, they are prepared to serve at the bedside. “We are pulling a lot of our non-bedside nurses and onboarding them back to their bedside skills. We’re teaching medical-surgical nurses how to take care of critical care patients,” Herbst said.

Herbst provided the age range breakdown of COVID-19 patients; highlighting the fact that the largest cohort of inpatients was in the 35-49 age range. On July 23, the age breakdown of COVID-19 positive inpatients was as follows:

Age                 Number of Inpatients

5-17                 1

18-34               5

35-49               20

50-59               7

60-64               7

65-69               13

70-74               18

75-79               4

80+                  6

 

“We are seeing more, younger people hospitalized, but that also can correlate to the higher percentage of young people contracting the virus. They tend to be more active socially and putting themselves in greater exposure,” Herbst said. “At the state level, the highest percentage of those that are contracting the virus, in fact, roughly 70 percent of them are less than 50 years old that have contracted the virus, but they account for a very low percentage of the deaths.”

 

Herbst also shared the fact that of those COVID-19 positive patients who have died at Kaweah Delta since the inception of the pandemic, all had an underlying health condition – diabetes, obesity, chronic heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, renal disease, etc.

 

“We have one of the highest diabetes populations in the entire state. We use more insulin per capita in Tulare County than anywhere in the U.S.,” he said. “We have a high percentage of diabetes and it seems to be one of the leading co-morbidities of those who are being hospitalized and dying of COVID, so I do want people with diabetes to be extra cautious. Those folks who are obese or have any of those underlying comorbidities, certainly the science and the statistics are showing that they’re at greater risk, so they need to be extra cautious.”