Atrium Pineville is bringing in federal help as hospital struggles with COVID surge
The federal government is sending a team of medical providers and support staff to Atrium Health Pineville this week as the hospital struggles with the Charlotte region’s surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is sending the team of 16 from the National Disaster Medical System to the hospital for up to 14 days.
The team will have 12 clinicians, including physicians, advanced practice providers, registered nurses and paramedics, as well as four support personnel.
The team will begin covering shifts in the emergency department at the Pineville hospital starting Thursday, according to Atrium.
In the latest surge of COVID-19 cases, the Pineville hospital has seen its highest census of patients during the coronavirus pandemic due to the highly contagious omicron variant, said Dr. Sheela Myers, Atrium Health Pineville’s chief medical officer, at a media briefing Tuesday evening.
The medical support team comes as a response to N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper’s late January call for federal aid for Charlotte-area hospitals, citing record numbers of patients hospitalized with COVID.
Earlier in January, FEMA provided North Carolina with 25 ambulances. They were deployed to 11 counties. Following Cooper’s request for additional aid, FEMA extended the deployment of those ambulances, along with 50 paramedics.
Another 25 staffed ambulances will arrive in North Carolina on Thursday, the state announced Tuesday afternoon. Seven ambulances in total will be deployed in Mecklenburg County.
Surge in COVID hospitalizations
Hospitalizations have surged in North Carolina over the past month, hitting new record highs for statewide hospitalizations multiple times in January. On Jan. 26, the state hit a new high for hospitalizations during the pandemic, with 5,201 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state.
COVID infections have slowed and started to decline in recent weeks. Hospitalizations are often called a lagging indicator, meaning it could take days or weeks before a trend in infections is reflected in hospitalizations.
But while the current wave of omicron cases declines, hospitalizations remain high, though statewide data shows a slight decline in hospitalizations over the past week.
According to the Atrium Health website, estimated wait times at the 307-bed Pineville hospital could be more than two hours as of Tuesday morning.
“We’re extremely grateful for the support of our state and federal governments, specifically Governor Cooper, the NCDHHS and HHS, to share this team of medical professionals for our Atrium Health Pineville emergency department,” Atrium Health chief medical officer Dr. James Hunter said in a statement to the Observer.
“Our dedicated health care heroes at Atrium Health have worked very hard throughout the pandemic and, like many others across the country, are feeling the effects of this latest surge. Knowing their work is being recognized and supplemented by this team to lend a hand is very meaningful for them.”
National Disaster Medical System teams are also providing medical surge support in Arizona and Rhode Island, according to HHS.
“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain our country’s health care system and medical personnel,” said Dawn O’Connell, HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, in a statement. “These NDMS teams serve as a lifeline to hospitals by providing temporary relief to staff, adding bed capacity, decreasing wait times, and improving outcomes for COVID-19 patients.”
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 1:00 PM.
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