County employees approved for hospital help
Local hospital staff should soon see some pandemic relief in the way of extra hands around the facility.
Commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding between Gordon County and AdventHealth Gordon Tuesday night to allow county personnel to assist where needed when not on duty.
“The task force met this morning and received reports from many sectors of the community,” County Administrator Jim Ledbetter said in his report. “Advent Gordon Hospital which is licensed for 69 patients currently has 114 patients.”
Ledbetter reported that 61 of those patients are
COVID positive, 24 are critical and 18 patients are on ventilators, with 15 patients on hold in the emergency room waiting to be moved into a private room.
Gordon County EMA reported Tuesday that over an 11 day period, Gordon County increased by 552 COVID cases and had 12 related deaths.
“We’re not guaranteeing any specific number of personnel on a given day, or any particular measurable period,” County Administrator Jim Ledbetter said. “We have a number of firefighters who have expressed interest. Our fire chief would want us to make sure no one had worked at the hospital within 12 hours of going on shift so they’ll be well rested when they come to us for duty, and they would need to be vaccinated to avoid getting a terminal case of COVID.”
Participation by county employees in hospital COVID relief would be strictly voluntary, according Ledbetter, and even those who participate can limit their duties if a task arises that they aren’t comfortable performing.
“They would be required to perform services at the hospital, however if there is something they don’t want to do they can opt out by notifying their supervisor and there’s no adverse consequence to
any employee for opting out,” he said.
Though any participating employee will continue to be fully employed by the county, taxpayers won’t be on the hook for the hospital aid, according to Ledbetter, including any worker’s compensation cases that may arise, as well as FICA and FUTA payroll contributions.
“The hospital will be reimbursing these people’s salaries for time spent at the hospital,” he said. “Gordon County Taxpayer money will not be used to fund this venture.”
County employees must also work only within their level of certification to perform any tasks asked of them at the hospital.
“In no event will our personnel perform any activity at the hospital except under supervision and direction of nurses and physicians.” Ledbetter said. “They will not be asked to perform any clinical function beyond what is permitted by the employee’s license.”
Commission chair Becky Hood made it a point to reinforce the importance of
sending help the hospital’s way prior to the unanimous 5-0 vote in favor or the memorandum. She also added that the Sheriff’s Office is also on board with interested employees.
“That’s why we’re sending help because they’ve got to get some relief,” she said. “You have to understand that while we have these COVID patients that are taking all of their attention, they’re not seeing their regular patients, so you have the rest of our population that is going without doctors appointments right now, so it’s a domino effect.”
Ledbetter also used time in his report to make a plea to the public to help control the spread of the virus locally.
“I have spoken with several of our local medical doctors,” he said. “They consistently report that COVID is largely preventable if a person will do the following: get vaccinated to reduce the severity of the virus, wear a mask in public where social distancing is not possible, exercise social distance when possible, and, wash and sanitize their hands often.”