Hospitals ask for Tenn. National Guard aid
As patient count rises, healthcare systems seek staffing assistance
As COVID-19 patient numbers hit record highs in local hospitals, the Memphis area’s two largest healthcare systems are applying for support from the Tennessee National Guard to help fill staffing needs.
Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation and Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare will both apply for assistance, the hospital systems said. Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey said Monday the governor was activating the guard to assist short-staffed and over-burdened healthcare systems across the state.
On Tuesday morning, there were a record-high 286 COVID-19 patients hospitalized across the Methodist system, 74 of whom were in intensive care unit beds. As of Wednesday morning, Baptist hospitals had 221 COVID-19 patients, 49 of whom were in ICU beds.
Those high patient numbers come on top of longstanding shortages of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, exacerbated in recent weeks by burnout and COVID-19 infections among hospital staff. In a recent letter informing employees of a system-wide vaccine mandate, Baptist leadership said the number of employees infected with COVID-19 increased 500% in a month.
A Baptist representative said the system would make a request for support through the local emergency preparedness colation, which would coordinate with state and federal officials.
In a statement, Methodist said the dramatic rise in hospitalized COVID-19 patients had strained its system, like other hospitals around the country.
“We are requesting additional resources to support our healthcare system as we provide the best possible care to those in need. Vaccines are the only way out of this pandemic, and we are pleading for the public to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to continue practicing safety behaviors including masking, social distancing and hand washing,” the statement read.
Piercey said the state was reinstating the program used over the winter COVID-19 surge to use National Guard members to aid hospital workers.
“We have personnel in our military who can do medical procedures or have medical training and can backfill in hospitals. That will help augment the staff that is already there,” she said. “Depending on the size of the hospital and the amount of their need, we are taking some of our National Guard personnel and augmenting staffing in those hospitals.”
National Guard personnel have provided pandemic-related support in Shelby County previously, including assisting vaccine administration at the Federal Emergency Management Agency-supported mass vaccination site at the Pipkin Building.
While there has been more demand for COVID-19 vaccines in Tennessee in recent weeks, demand remains well below the levels of the initial vaccine rollout. Piercey said some guard members who were previously administering vaccines are now being redeployed to hospitals.
Dr. Steve Threlkeld, director of infection prevention for the Baptist system, said hospitals in the Baptist system and around the country were struggling to keep up with patient loads. He said that all ICU beds were filled in the system as of Wednesday morning, and non-icu beds were having to be adapted to provide intensive care.
“I think that everybody that takes care of sick people with COVID would agree that we have a problem with overload of the system,” he said.
He also cautioned the strain to the healthcare system does not impact COVID-19 patients alone. If there are no hospital beds or healthcare professionals available, people might not be able to get the necessary care for a heart attack, stroke, car crash or other emergency.
“You don’t have to die of COVID to die because of COVID and if you don’t have any place to go...people can die from COVID that way too,” he said.