Federal reinforcements deployed to help Rockford area hospitals with COVID surge
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A team of 16 medical professionals has been deployed here to help area hospitals handle a surge in coronavirus patients that has exhausted health care resources.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services activated the team from its National Disaster Medical System at the state’s request. The team arrived Wednesday for a 14-day stint after local providers experienced record low availability of hospital beds because of an increase in patients with COVID-19.
The goal is to alleviate the pressure area hospitals face from the high number of COVID patients to improve the quality of care all patients receive. Winnebago County Public Health Administrator Sandra Martell said this week that hospitals were operating under crisis standards of care, which happens when a hospital is so overwhelmed that it cannot provide the normal level of care.
“Redistributing some of those patients to the extra capacity that we’re bringing allows the patients that stay in the other facilities to receive what would be much better care because the number of patients that the nurses and doctors have to treat goes down,” said George Mark Thorp, commander for the Midwest 1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team, on a call with members of the media.
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The team includes a physician, pharmacist, respiratory therapist, advance health care practitioners, nurses, paramedics and support staff. They all come from other health care systems, taking a two week break from those jobs to assist in the effort.
They will treat patients with the coronavirus from around the region at Mercyhealth Javon Bea Hospital-Riverside.
If the need still exists at the end of the team’s two-week stay, it is possible the mission could be extended, Thorp said. In that case, a new team of medical professionals would arrive to continue the work.
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This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.
