Hospitals to Shelby County: Enact mask mandate or hospitals will be overwhelmed,
One of the leaders of the Memphis and Shelby County COVID-19 task force warned the Memphis City Council and the public Tuesday that Memphis-area hospitals could soon begin triaging patient care “based on their probability of survival.”
Doug Mcgowen, the city of Memphis’ chief operating officer, told the city council that the heads of Memphis-area hospitals’ emergency departments had sent him a letter Tuesday that asks the Shelby County Health Department to enact a mask mandate immediately to stem the surge of COVID-19 infections.
“Currently our system emergency departments are operating dangerously overcapacity and housing dozens of admitted patients in each of our emergency departments. Projections for COVID patients who are hospitalized will double by the end of the month and increase sixfold by the end of September, that increase will produce more admitted COVID patients than the city has hospital beds...,” Mcgowen said, reading directly from the letter.
Last week, there were 539 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Memphis-area hospitals, a level also not seen since winter. Hospitalization data has not been readily available since the spring and hospitalizations could have climbed since last Wednesday, the latest data available.
During the winter surge, more than 600 people were in Memphis-area hospitals, but Memphis was never forced to start triaging care.
Now, in summer, with an influx of COVID-19 patients, respiratory syncytial virus cases among children and more trauma cases than in winter, the hospital systems have been pushed to the breaking point, Mcgowen said.
Mcgowen’s disclosure came to the city council as Shelby County is approaching case levels that could easily outstrip what the city saw in early January.
The letter was sent to Mcgowen Tuesday, he said. It will likely be addressed to all of the municipal mayors in Shelby County and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris. Harris, Shelby County Health Department Director Michelle Taylor and Health Officer Bruce Randolph retain the ability to require masks.
The letter is also not an isolated alarm bell. Last week, Memphis Fire Department Chief Gina Sweat told the public that the fire department was so stretched that if someone needs an ambulance, they may not get one.
Political battle over masking leads to dire warning
The political fight over masking — a scientifically proven method of reducing transmission of COVID-19 — brought out the startling revelation about Memphis’ hospital capacity.
Mcgowen was not scheduled to address the city council and deliver the hospital systems’ warning if not for the council’s decision to oppose Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order that allows parents to opt their children out of wearing masks in school.
Lee, and other Republican leaders, have pushed against any mandatory masking as cases have surged again in recent weeks. Tennessee was among a handful of states in the U.S. that did not mandate masks indoors during the pandemic.
That stance has not sat well with local leaders. Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-thomas brought a resolution that criticized Lee and described his action as an assault on local governance.
During debate over that resolution, Chairman Frank Colvett, a staunch Republican, called Mcgowen to the microphone in the city council chambers and told the chief operating officer to convince him to vote for the resolution. Mcgowen read portions of the letter and Colvett voted for the resolution moments later.
After the meeting, Mcgowen said he was not sure if the troubling hospital projections would come to pass, but emphasized the explosive, exponential growth of cases and hospitalizations.
“If you look at the slope of the line and the increase, that’s really what the worry is. That that number could get much, much larger,” Mcgowen said.
Doctor warns peak may be weeks away
“Currently our system emergency departments are operating dangerously over capacity and housing dozens of admitted patients in each of our emergency departments.”
Doug Mcgowen, the city of Memphis’ chief operating officer
Dr. Manoj Jain, an infectious disease expert, and a taskforce member who also works in the Baptist hospital system said he had not seen the letter, but does not doubt its warnings.
He said the hospital systems “absolutely” could have to manage care.
“It feels like a warzone in the emergency room. It is incredibly concerning. I just wish [the public could see] what’s going on in the hospital, in what we are having to do as infectious disease doctors ... in terms of managing so many critically ill COVID patients,” Jain said.
According to Jain, there were 570 people in the hospital with COVID-19 on Monday.
“At the peak during the winter, we were as high as 620 patients in the hospital. At the rate that this is going, I think it will easily surpass the peak during the winter,” Jain said.
He said the case rate and hospitalizations, which lag new cases by about a week are probably going to keep rising for two to three more weeks.
Jain, who has advised Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland throughout the pandemic, said a mask mandate like the one suggested by the emergency department leaders is worthy conversation.
“That’s a very valid conversation given where we are in this in this pandemic,” Jain said.
Samuel Hardiman covers Memphis city government and politics for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by email at samuel.hardiman@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter at @samhardiman.