COVID-19 continues to strain local healthcare system
December 16, 2020
Now, it’s causing an unprecedented strain on our healthcare system.
Jackson-Madison County General Hospital is currently using all of their ventilators and more, according to Amy Garner with West Tennessee Healthcare.
“We’ve ordered more ventilators and are asking for more from the state,” she said.
And finding one?
“I spent hours last night in contact between the state and EMA trying to find ventilators to send down here,” said Wayne Arnold, the regional hospital coordinator for the Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department.
Garner says they currently they have 117 COVID-positive patients. That’s 21% of the overall census at the hospital. And others in the system aren’t faring any better. Garner said roughly half of Dyersburg’s patients are also COVID-positive.