Durham, NC – North Carolina hospital beds are filled with coronavirus patients. Healthcare facilities are worried about having to ration out care in the coming weeks as hospitalizations increase.
“There just aren’t enough nurses to go and take care of all the patients,” Dr. Rodney McCaskill, chief physician at Johnston Health.
Durham VA Hospital on Fulton Street, just across from Duke University Hospital, is expanding its COVID room to ease the load on other facilities in the area.
“Remember, we care for people without COVID, and we also have to deal with COVID-19. So it’s really spreading, especially some of these smaller hospitals,” said UNC health doctor David Wohl.
In response, VA added 15 more beds to its COVID-ward.
“Even before the Christmas holidays, Durham VA decided to expand the capacity of the bed and open a new unit,” said Deputy Director of Public Health Office Genevieve Embree. The beds in this unit continue to expand. “
The health care system has been able to reach hospitals like Duke to relocate more veterans who need it. On Tuesday, more than 3,300 North Carolinians were hospitalized with coronavirus.
Recently released White House data indicates that 87 of North Carolina counties, including Durham, Orange and Wake counties, are “sustained benchmarks” for COVID-19.
The VA also offers out-of-system vaccinations to Duke residents and medical students amid the recent holiday rise in coronavirus cases.