Tidelands hospitals may call in National Guard to help with rise in COVID-19 patients
Facing a staff shortage as they see an increased number of COVID-19 patients, Tidelands Health is considering asking the National Guard for assistance.
Tidelands spokeswoman Dawn Bryant confirmed that they’re working to expand staffing as it responds to a rapid a dramatic increase in coronavirus hospitalizations, as are many other health systems across the state.
One possibility to alleviate staffing concerns involves exploring the availability of National Guard clinical professionals, and Tidelands is working with the South Carolina Hospital Association in that effort, according to Bryant.
Derrec Becker, a spokesman for the S.C. Emergency Management Division, told reporters Thursday on a virtual press briefing that Tidelands’ request might exceed what the National Guard’s medical unit is capable of fulfilling.
“We’re looking at the possibilities of utilizing their contracting services, and reaching out to the federal government,” Becker said. “We’re just not sure yet. That resource request happened today.”
Becker noted that they’re not at the point of looking at alternate facilities for surge planning, but state officials began talking with hospitals on a daily basis last week about that possibility.
“It’s important to note that since March, since we talked about this initially, a lot of the hospitals have developed their own internal surge plan, so they may not need state support,” Becker said.
Bryant added that Tidelands is also considering other approaches, including reassigning staff to support areas of greatest need, offering incentive pay for current staff to pick up additional shifts, recruiting to fill vacant positions, securing temporary nursing staff from staffing agencies, and temporarily rescheduling elective surgeries.
Tidelands Health had 47 patients confirmed with COVID-19 as of Wednesday at its two hospitals in Horry and Georgetown counties with another 10 awaiting results, according to a news release, which noted that they had just three positive patients June 18. Tidelands also noted in that news release that more than half of those hospitalized with coronavirus since mid-June were younger than 65.
“Don’t believe this virus only affects the elderly — that’s not true,” Dr. Gerald Harmon, vice president of medical affairs, said in the release. “Don’t believe it’s just like the flu — that’s also not true.”
Tidelands’ intensive care units are at 96 percent capacity, the release added, while Horry County hospital beds are about 87 percent occupied, according to S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control data.
There have been 5,203 coronavirus cases and 65 deaths in Horry County since mid-March, according to DHEC.
The State Newspaper reporter Joe Bustos contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 9, 2020 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Tidelands hospitals may call in National Guard to help with rise in COVID-19 patients."
