VOLUME 35| ISSUE 48
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 28, 2024
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SPECIAL HOMETOWN HOLIDAYS EDITION
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
From the Commerce City Sentinel Express
Hospitals rationing intravenous fluids National shortage in hurricane’s wake may last for months BY JACKIE FORTIÉR KFF HEALTH NEWS
guidelines. STEAD, which enrolls more than 400 students, isn’t the only school in Colorado with a student-powered lunch program. Compass Montessori, a charter school in Jefferson County where some STEAD staff previously worked, has long had a similar set up. At STEAD, the lunch initiative came about partly out of necessity. When the school opened in 2021, a neighboring district provided lunches — “kind of your standard reheat-and-serve” fare, Holland said. But after two years, the district decided to discontinue its contract with STEAD. That’s when Holland, who previously worked as a chef at restaurants like Den-
Hospitals around the country are conserving critical intravenous fluid supplies to cope with a shortage that may last months. Some hospital administrators say they are changing how they think about IV fluid hydration altogether. Hurricane Helene, which hit North Carolina in September, wrecked a Baxter International facility that produces 60% of the IV fluids used in the U.S., according to the American Hospital Association. The company was forced to stop production and is rationing its products. In an update posted Nov. 7, Baxter said its North Cove facility had resumed producing some IV fluids. In an email to KFF Health News, the company wrote that customers will be able to order normal quantities of “certain IV solutions products” by the end of the year, but there is no timeline for when the North Cove facility will be back to prehurricane production levels. Meanwhile, hospitals are facing seasonal strains on their already limited IV fluid resources, said Sam Elgawly, chief of resource stewardship at Inova, a health system in the Washington, D.C., area. “We’ve been very aggressive in our conservation measures,” Elgawly said, stressing that he does not believe patient care has been compromised. He told KFF Health News that across the system IV fluid usage has dropped 55% since early October. Elgawly called the shortage a crisis that he expects to have to continue managing for some time. “We are going to operate under the assumption that this is going to be the way it is through the end of 2024 and have adopted our demand/conservation measures accordingly,” he said. At the end of the calendar year, many patients with insurance hurry to schedule surgical procedures before their deductibles reset in January. Elgawly is eyeing that typical surgical rush and the impending peak of respiratory virus season as he tries to stockpile IV fluid bags. Hospitals such as Inova’s are using different ways to conserve, such as giving some medications intravenous-
SEE LUNCH, P17
SEE SHORTAGE, P23
A member of Eastlake’s flock of turkeys peers through a bush Nov. 19.
PHOTO BY SCOTT TAYLOR
• Page 9
• Vestas to lay off 200 employees
BUSINESS
Lunch for 200 people? These Colorado charter school students do it every day.
BY ANN SCHIMKE CHALKBEAT COLORADO
• Page 3
•27J Schools moves online-only Dec. 1
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LOCAL OBITUARIES LEGALS CLASSIFIED
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
LOCAL
Brayden, Sabrina, and Rachel scraped the charred skins off poblano peppers, squished out the seeds, and dropped the slippery pepper flesh into a stainless steel bowl. “Guys! Why are we leaving so many seeds in there?” 16-year-old Sabrina said, half laughing, half exasperated. “Oh my God, they just keep appearing,” said Brayden, also 16. “I clean it off and eight more show up.” It was almost 9 a.m. on a Tuesday, and the three worked with classmates to make posole in their first class of the day at STEAD School, a charter school in Commerce City northeast of Denver. In just over two hours, the fragrant Mexi-
can soup of hominy, chicken, peppers, and tomatillos would be the star of their high school’s lunch line. Grapes, orange wedges, and a salad bar were the supporting actors. The morning meal prep session happens four days a week at STEAD, an agriculture and science-focused school where you might hear a rooster crow on your way to the main entrance. Students in two “food crew” classes help prepare scratch-cooked meals for more than 200 students and teachers every day but Wednesday, which is a half day. Under the direction of Dain Holland, the school’s farm and food manager, they make entrees like bison bolognese, sesame orange chicken, cheeseburgers, and Vietnamese bánh mì sandwiches, all of which adhere to federal school nutrition
BRIEFS: PAGE 2 | OBITUARIES: PAGE 9 | CLASSIFIEDS: PAGE 19
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