Tents return outside hospital over Covid surge

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — For the 3rd clip during the pandemic, Pikeville Medical Center is taking measures to power the request astatine the exigency room.

They person opened tents extracurricular the E.R. to effort and bounds arsenic overmuch vulnerability of the microorganism to those wrong the hospital. As of Wednesday morning, determination were much than 70 COVID-19 patients successful the hospital.

"It's going to instrumentality getting escaped of the societal media misfacts, instrumentality the authorities retired of it, and travel unneurotic arsenic a assemblage to assistance decision this and support those that we attraction for and love," said Donovan Blackburn, CEO of Pikeville Medical Center.

Hospital leaders accent the quality successful patients -- those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated. Looking astatine the data, the immense bulk of those successful the infirmary with COVID-19 are those who are not vaccinated.

"People that are coming successful that are investigating affirmative that person been vaccinated aren't getting astir arsenic sick," said Dale Morton, the Director of Emergency & Transport Services. "We're capable to nonstop them location with the vitamin regimen and a mates of different things and they're moving their mode done it."

Tents acceptable up extracurricular the E.R. tin clasp up to 16 patients astatine once.

"Anybody presenting COVID symptoms we triage successful 1 country and anybody not expressing COVID symptoms we triage successful another, trying to support our patients arsenic overmuch arsenic possible," Morton says.

That is to hopefully support the microorganism distant from different radical who are successful the E.R. for different reasons.

"We person met capableness successful the exigency country respective times lately," said Morton. "There are a batch of sick people. We request radical to get vaccinated, wearing a mask, doing the societal distancing."

This is the 3rd clip they person had to unfastened the tent. The past clip was the extremity of August of 2020. The archetypal clip was erstwhile the pandemic archetypal started successful March of 2020. The request has been truthful strenuous connected the infirmary unit that they are expecting the National Guard to assistance retired adjacent month.

"It has enactment america successful positions that it's taking longer to determination patients done the ER successful times that we've ne'er seen astatine Pikeville Medical Center," Morton said.

Leaders besides constituent retired the summation is not circumstantial to Pike County. They person had hospitals from Macon, Ga. telephone to spot if they tin transportation patients. Macon is much than 450 miles from Pikeville.