ATLANTA — One of Atlanta’s hospitals is already feeling the stress of additional coronavirus patients and a shortage of supplies.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray sat down with a top leader at Piedmont Hospital to talk about the hospital’s preparedness efforts.
Piedmont Hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr. Mark Cohen said Wednesday that at the moment, the hospital was fully supplied, but some products were already “critically low.”
“I can’t remember the last day I came to work in the morning and we had an empty bed,” Cohen said.
Beds were already in short supply at Piedmont Hospital.
That's why starting Wednesday, doctors there are only performing urgent or emergency surgeries.
All elective surgeries are on hold, thus, freeing up bed space for coronavirus patients.
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“Many of our supplies are running critically low,” Cohen said. “(It could be) potentially days for some critical supplies like the N-95 masks.”
The hospital is already rationing and limiting its use of those N-95 masks which provide more protection than traditional surgical masks.
Gray also asked about ventilators. The hospital is OK on those for now, but Cohen says he does not know if it will be enough in the coming weeks.
“It’s the big unknown. How many patients will there be? Will other hospitals will run out?” Cohen said.
Cohen says right now, the hospital is using major resources and manpower isolating and treating patients who show symptoms of coronavirus but have not been tested.
“As soon as we can do a nasal swab, rule somebody out, in 2 hours 4 hours, that entire population of ‘maybe you have it, maybe you don’t’ goes away,” he said.
Cohen says he believes that faster testing ability is just days away, which would really free up resources.
Like every visitor to Piedmont Hospital, our news crew was screened before entering for the interview. They were also asked a series of questions about where they had traveled, whether they have any symptoms or if they have had any contact with anyone who had.
It is all an effort here to limit exposure.
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