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Running Low on Beds and Nurses, Area Hospitals Face COVID Winter

Pixabay via pixabay.com/photos/hospital-patient-finger-emergency-3192833/

More than 500 hospital beds in the Memphis-area, as of Monday, were occupied by COVID-19 patients, a threshold that has arrived a month sooner than predicted.

Almost a third of the COVID-19 hospitalizations were in the ICU. That’s not including over 50 people still waiting for test results.

Even more cases are likely just around the corner—a result of Thanksgiving gatherings and activities.

“If we look several weeks out, and we anticipate a surge—even if it’s a small surge from Thanksgiving—we are going to have significant challenges in the hospital systems around the Christmas holiday,” said Dr. Alisa Haushalter, the health department director.

The most significant challenge, says Haushalter, is a growing shortage of nurses, especially those trained to deal with critically ill patients. Hospitals may look for extra help by enlisting retired professionals or tapping local medical schools for their faculty and students. 

Several local hospitals temporarily suspended elective procedures for multiple days this week to manage strapped resources, something that became common practice at the beginning of the pandemic. The Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare system will generally resume procedures on Wednesday.

“Individual hospital leaders will evaluate elective procedures on a case-by-case basis, to ensure we are providing the best care possible for all MLH patients,” a Methodist Le Bonheur spokesperson said in a statement.

Looking ahead, Haushalter says even more trained personnel—nurses, EMTs and pharmacists—will need to be recruited to administer vaccines.

The first round of doses, expected as soon as mid-December, will go to frontline hospital workers, first responders and long-term care facilities.

“We need to be able to administer that in the field,” Haushalter said at a press briefing. “So we anticipate at the current time having two sites available for providing vaccines. Ideally, that will be drive-thru sites and that we may need 25-30 people per shift.”

More details about the vaccination roll-out plan are expected later this week.

Katie is a part-time WKNO contributor. She's always eager to hear your story ideas. You can email her at kriordan@wkno.org