WFAE
A hospital bed sits in one of the tarp-enclosed rooms at North Carolina s field hospital in Lenoir. Each room will also have a heart monitor and other medical equipment.
North Carolina’s hospitals are quickly filling up with patients stricken by the coronavirus, even as health systems in some of the hardest-hit regions the Triad and greater Charlotte area take steps to make room for a wave of new patients.
The looming crisis is fueled by lack of clinical staff, not by lack of physical space for beds.
Health care workforce shortages have been chronic and persistent in some areas of the state, particularly rural ones. But with virtually every hospital in the state drawing on a finite pool of available providers, more than 4,000 North Carolina hospital beds are either unstaffed or were not reported to the state, data from the Department of Health and Human Services shows. COVID-19 infections in health care workers have also compounded the shortage.
A new field hospital in Lenoir will start accepting COVID-19 patients on Wednesday.
It was difficult to find a quiet spot Tuesday afternoon in the paved lot next to Caldwell UNC Health Care in Lenoir as dozens of people rushed to meet a deadline.
A man in a blue surgical mask sawed two-by-fours. A woman wheeled two computer carts wrapped in plastic. In the middle of all of the action stood 11 white plastic tents. Melissa Strickland pulled open the flap on one of the tents and stepped inside the state’s first COVID-19 field hospital.
“You can see they’re just setting up this ward and putting all of the equipment in place,” Strickland, a spokesperson for Samaritan’s Purse, said. The Boone-based international disaster relief organization is managing the field hospital which plans to start accepting patients on Wednesday.
30-bed emergency field hospital to open in Lenoir, as Carolinas report record hospitalizations
Officials said the unit will help support the treatment of patients who are COVID-positive but do not need the support of a ventilator. Author: Meilin Tompkins, Chloe Leshner (WCNC), Vanessa Ruffes (WCNC) Published: 3:12 PM EST December 31, 2020 Updated: 6:51 AM EST January 5, 2021
LENOIR, N.C. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to tax healthcare workers across the Carolinas, crews with Samaritan s Purse are finalizing construction of a 30-bed emergency field hospital on the grounds of the Caldwell UNC Health Care in Lenoir, North Carolina. The facility is expected to open mid-week.
Samaritan s Purse field hospital in Lenoir is response to surge journalpatriot.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from journalpatriot.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
30-bed emergency field hospital to open in Lenoir, as Carolinas report record hospitalizations
Officials said the unit will help support the treatment of patients who are COVID-positive but do not need the support of a ventilator. Author: Meilin Tompkins, Chloe Leshner (WCNC), Vanessa Ruffes (WCNC) Published: 3:12 PM EST December 31, 2020 Updated: 6:51 AM EST January 5, 2021
LENOIR, N.C. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to tax healthcare workers across the Carolinas, crews with Samaritan s Purse are finalizing construction of a 30-bed emergency field hospital on the grounds of the Caldwell UNC Health Care in Lenoir, North Carolina. The facility is expected to open mid-week.