BREAKING: Charlotte hospitals might need 3,000 more beds
Today is Thursday, April 2, 2020, and we’re coming to you with BREAKING NEWS.
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Atrium, Novant want a huge field hospital at UNC Charlotte, they say in letter to county
Mecklenburg County hospitals might be short as many as 3,000 hospital beds when coronavirus cases peak, the CEOs of Charlotte’s top healthcare systems wrote in a letter Thursday to County Manager Dena Diorio.
The heads of Novant Health and Atrium Health propose that the county work with state and federal leaders to build a field hospital at UNC Charlotte to accommodate an expected surge in patients between mid-April and mid-May.
In a letter, they wrote:
While there are no perfect models, using the latest epidemiological statistical analysis to predict community spread, we are anticipating potential additional volumes of approximately 3,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients beyond our currently planned surge capacity. In addition, our models suggest the surge will occur between mid-April and mid-May 2020. As seen in other cities across the nation, such a surge can quickly overwhelm hospitals, and a field hospital can act as an important relief valve. Therefore, the time to act is now to implement solutions needed to adequately care for our patients and community.
(You can read the full letter here.)
So far, Mecklenburg has about 500 confirmed coronavirus cases and two deaths. Statewide, the number of confirmed cases increased to more than 1,800, and just 184 patients are hospitalized with severe symptoms from the coronavirus, the state said Thursday.
But internal projections from the local hospitals apparently show that the number of serious cases will swell in the weeks ahead, even as Mecklenburg and the rest of the state are under “stay at home” orders that have shut down large chunks of the economy and kept people at home. They have not publicly shared the projections.
Being as many as 3,000 beds short is a huge number.
Atrium and Novant have about 2,100 acute-care beds in Mecklenburg between the two systems. Most are already filled with patients with other illnesses, though some are empty as the hospital systems have postponed elective surgeries.
Earlier Thursday, county health director Gibbie Harris pleaded for outside help to lawmakers, according to WFAE:
Harris became emotional while speaking to a committee of North Carolina state lawmakers.
“Our ability to serve our community is going to be based on the support that we get from the federal and state government. We are going to be needing your help,” Harris said.
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Editor: Tony Mecia; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire