World famous Nevada hospital is forced to treat COVID patients in its underground parking lot as admissions surge 230%
An overwhelmed Nevada hospital is now treating patients in a converted parking garage as figures show COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state have surged 230 percent over the past month.
Renown Regional Medical Center opened an alternative care site with two floors of supplemental hospital beds inside a parking structure on November 12 to accommodate an overflow in COVID-19 cases.
Since then they have treated 265 people in the garage, CBS reports. Tony Slonim, the president and CEO of Renown Health, told the network: 'Our frontline caregivers are seeing things that they never would have imagined.'
The number of people hospitalized in Nevada with COVID-19 has increased from 692 on November 6 to 1,617 on December 6, the Nevada Hospital Association reported Monday. That's a jump of more than 230 percent.
Hospital officials also reported that the number of patients needing ventilators grew 250% from early November.
Nevada reported 2,448 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths Monday as the state continued to hit new highs for the number of reported positive cases over a two-week period.
The state's 14-day test positivity rate was 21.2% on Monday — the highest since the start of the pandemic. Nevada has been hitting new highs in that rolling trend since it began experiencing a spike in reported coronavirus cases in mid-November.
Nevada has reported 170,587 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic and 2,319 deaths.
Renown Regional Medical Center is now treating patients in a converted parking garage as figures show COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state have surged 230 percent over the past month
Renown Regional Medical Center opened an alternative care site with two floors of supplemental hospital beds inside a parking structure on November 12 to accommodate an overflow in COVID-19 cases
Since the field hospital opened it has treated 265 people. Tony Slonim, the president and CEO of Renown Health, told CBS: 'Our frontline caregivers are seeing things that they never would have imagined'
Intensive care unit doctor Jacob Keeperman is managing the $11 million field hospital. He added: 'Nobody who has gone into medicine ever thought they would be providing care in a parking garage.' A patient is pictured in the garage
The field hospital's nursing manager Janet Baum said: 'Never in my wildest nightmares would I ever have thought that we would ever see something that would be killing this many people.' The field hospital is pictured
Intensive care unit doctor Jacob Keeperman is managing the $11 million field hospital. He said: 'Nobody who has gone into medicine ever thought they would be providing care in a parking garage.'
The field hospital's nursing manager Janet Baum said: 'Never in my wildest nightmares would I ever have thought that we would ever see something that would be killing this many people.'
A photo of the hospital's alternative care site last week went viral to fuel the false narrative that the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax, even as cases surge in the state.
President Donald Trump propelled the misinformation Tuesday, retweeting the photo of the doctor amid empty beds to his more than 80 million followers.
The state's 14-day positivity rate was 21.2% on Monday — the highest since the start of the pandemic. Nevada has been hitting new highs in that rolling trend since it began experiencing a spike in reported coronavirus cases in mid-November
Nevada reported 2,448 new COVID-19 cases and four more deaths Monday as the state continued to hit new highs for the number of reported positive cases over a two-week period
The number of people hospitalized in Nevada with COVID-19 has increased from 692 on November 6 to 1,617 on December 6, the Nevada Hospital Association reported Monday. That's a jump of more than 230 percent
Nevada has reported 170,587 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic and 2,319 deaths
A total of 31 states, including Nevada, are seeing rising hospitalization rates, compared with two weeks ago, data shows
The picture was taken on the day the site opened and had yet to admit patients. The site, which was set up for patients who do not require long-term care, can house more than 1,400 patients.
An announcement on Renown Health's website said the medical center was 'preparing for surges and standing up an alternate care site in the Mill St. Parking Garage. Due to this plan, no new incoming vehicles can enter this parking garage. It will be closed until further notice.'
It was Keeperman, medical director for Renown's Transfer and Operations Center, who shared the image.
He tweeted: 'With 5 deaths in the last 32 hours, everyone is struggling to keep their head-up. Stay strong.'
'It is really demoralizing to everybody who is out working so hard to have this politicized and polarized so much,' he said. 'I am holding patients' hands when they take their very last breath because their loved ones can't be with them.'
This photo of the hospital's alternative care site last week went viral to fuel the false narrative that the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax, even as cases surge in the state. The picture was taken on the day the site opened and had yet to admit patients
President Donald Trump propelled the misinformation Tuesday, retweeting the photo of the doctor amid empty beds
COVID-19 patients are now being treated in a parking garage at the Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, as conditions inside the nation's hospitals are deteriorating by the day. The site is pictured before patients arrived in November
A hospital bed sits inside Renown Regional Medical Center's parking garage, which has been transformed into an alternative care site for COVID-19 patients in Reno, Nevada. The site is pictured before patients arrived in November
Oxygen tanks can be seen lined up inside the parking garage. The site is pictured before patients arrived in November
Nevada COVID-19 response director Caleb Cage said Monday that officials expect the number of reported cases to continue rising because of gatherings people held over Thanksgiving. That will likely increase hospitalizations, Cage said.
Statewide, 80 percent of staffed hospital beds were occupied Monday and 40 percent of the ventilators in Nevada were being used.
Nevada Department of Public and Behavioral Health Deputy Administrator Julia Peek said state officials hope that the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines will begin arriving within a week or so, but that depends on a federal panel of vaccine experts giving the go-ahead.
The advisory group is meeting this week to consider Pfizer's vaccine and next week to consider Moderna's.
Soon after that, Nevada expects to receive its initial round of doses, which plans to distribute to frontline workers such as hospital staff, paramedics, laboratory technicians, prison workers and nursing home residents and workers.
