Memorial Health University Medical Center is one of 10 hospitals across the state that will receive Georgia National Guard medics and support staff to assist frontline medical workers with treating the rising number of COVID-19 patients, announced Gov. Brian Kemp's office on Tuesday.
“This Georgia National Guard mission is in addition to the 2,800 state-supported staff and 450 new beds brought online I announced last week, at a total state investment of $625 million through December of this year," read the statement from the Governor's office. "I continue to urge all Georgians to talk to a medical professional about getting vaccinated.”
In all, 105 Guard personnel will be deployed across the state. Of those 105, Dr. Stephen Thacker, associate chief medical officer for Memorial Health, expects eight National Guard personnel to arrive on Wednesday afternoon and begin providing medical and clerical support to the nursing staff, ranging from transporting patients, gathering and distributing medical supplies, and assisting medical staff with direct patient care.
For Dr. Thacker, the help is welcome. "We are certainly thankful for Gov. Kemp's and the state's support of our region as we continue to see all-time highs of admitted COVID-19 patients during this resurgence."
As of Tuesday evening, Memorial Health had 166 patients admitted for COVID-19-related concerns. Twelve of those patients are pediatric patients, and 41 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
"Even before the pandemic, we were recognizing that, as health care providers, to live our mission... oftentimes folks are sacrificing a lot for their patients and their community," said Thacker.
"I think that emotional toll that comes from taking care of very sick people and, unfortunately, experience some losing their lives or having their lives dramatically changed because of illness, the emotional toll on providers has only been exacerbated during this pandemic. So, I do think any support that we can provide our teams at the nursing level, the therapist level, for our physicians and their colleagues is well deserved."
Thacker anticipates the National Guard support will be in place up to eight weeks, similar to previous emergency contracts, although a definitive timeline has not been established yet. Southeast Georgia Health System's Brunswick campus is the only other hospital in the Coastal Georgia region that will receive the additional assistance, which is being coordinated through the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Community Health.
This is a developing story.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Gov. Brian Kemp sending National Guard to assist frontline workers across Georgia, including Savannah
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