Orangeburg hospital calls on SC National Guard to build COVID-19 overflow tents
One South Carolina hospital called on the S.C. National Guard to build tents outside its main building to treat COVID-19 patients if new cases outpace bed capacity, a hospital official said.
The Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg worked with the National Guard to erect the temporary care facilities beginning last Wednesday, reported WIS News.
As of Tuesday, Orangeburg County has the seventh highest rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. Over 1,600 people have tested positive for the virus, and 37 have died since the pandemic began.
The county’s average daily reported cases have nearly doubled in the past two weeks, according to DHEC data analyzed by the New York Times.
Regional Medical Center Vice President of Operations Matthew Hinkle said in a statement the tents were a proactive measure “to prepare for any additional spike in COVID-19 cases that could outstrip current bed capacity,” adding the additional beds are not currently needed.
A hospital spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for an interview to discuss the decision to set up the tents and didn’t answer emailed questions Tuesday.
In other hard-hit areas of South Carolina, hospitals are also turning to the state for help.
A group of five hospitals near Myrtle Beach announced in a news release Tuesday they would receive staffing support from approximately 40 National Guard medics after a spike in COVID-19 patients in Horry and Georgetown counties.
The S.C. Emergency Management Division has received “few” resource requests from hospitals across the state, according to agency spokesperson Derrec Becker. Several hospitals are engaged with state officials in “discussion-only planning,” and many have their own surge capabilities that don’t require state assistance, he said.
National Guard members previously assisted other hospital chains in coronavirus preparations during the initial phases of the pandemic, Becker said.
EMD hasn’t activated any state-run overflow sites for COVID-19 patients, which could include sports arenas and abandoned hospitals, Becker said.
But individual hospitals, such as the Regional Medical Center, have taken steps to increase capacity.
In a statement, Hinkle said the hospital would take several weeks to fully outfit the tents with necessary medical equipment and receive approval from DHEC before they are ready to house COVID-19 patients.
As of July 18, 84% of the Regional Medical Center’s beds were occupied, with 26 beds available, according to DHEC data.
In Beaufort County, Beaufort Memorial Hospital established an overflow site in a local middle school gym in April but took it down in June after it was not needed, according to a hospital spokesperson.
The Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the S.C. National Guard to plan a field hospital on its Charleston campus, but a request to activate it has not been made, according to a Monday news release.
Schipp Ames, a spokesperson for the S.C. Hospital Association, said each facility is making the call on when to activate its COVID-19 surge plan, in collaboration with local emergency management officials and state agencies.
“Each hospital is really making their own decision based on resources, staffing and bed capacity,” he said.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, which approves alternate care sites, did not immediately respond to a request for information on the locations of COVID-19 overflow locations across the state and how many have been activated by hospitals.
