Hospitals in southwest Georgia are once again feeling brunt of another COVID-19 surge

ATLANTA - By Monday morning, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia, had 131 COVID-19 patients, the highest number they have seen since the January peak.

Dr. Eddie Black, the hospital's medical director for emergency services, says there were 45 coronavirus patients in their intensive care units, and they were expanding to open up two more to make space for additional patients.

"I'm concerned because I'm not sure that we have seen the worst that is coming," Black says. "I'm very concerned for the staff."

Dr. Black says he feels like history is repeating itself in Albany, where just 35% of residents are fully vaccinated.

"We're kind of bewildered," Dr. Black says.  "At one point in time, we were ranked fourth in the world, when it comes to the death rate, behind Wuhan, the Lombardi region of Italy and New York City.  And, little Albany Georgia was fourth in the death rate.  So, you would have thought we would have responded in greater numbers from a vaccination standpoint."

Dr. Black says about 86% of their hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and almost all of those in the ICU, are unvaccinated. 

He says those getting really sick seem to be getting in trouble with the virus more quickly.

"So, people may test positive, think they're okay, and then suddenly turn worse," Dr. Black says.  "We're also seeing younger patients coming in.  Whereas earlier on in the pandemic, the average age was up in the mid-60s, we're now seeing people with an average age in the mid-50s."

Two counties away, at Miller County Hospital, CEO Robin Rau says she cannot believe how quickly the delta variant swept through her community, where about 39% of residents are fully vaccinated.

"Once it started here, there is no stopping it," Rau says.  "It is like those California wildfires.  It is so contagious."

Rau says her hospital never really covered from the first few rounds of the virus, which she says left them very understaffed.

Her system is down about 70-80 employees, including nurses and respiratory therapists.

Miller County, which has 100 patients on ventilators, relies on a network of tertiary care hospitals, where they can transfer acutely ill patients like stroke or heart attack survivors.

But finding space at another hospital has become incredibly difficult as COVID-19 cases surge again, Rau says.

Hospitals Rau says, are full.

"What I'm telling you, you're going to hear this from every hospital CEO, from Phoebe to Grady," Rau says.  "Everybody is going to tell you exactly the same thing, and it is heartbreaking." 

Her nurses, she says, are making anywhere from 50 to 100 calls, trying to find a hospital with room for just one patient.

"Imagine the manpower of my entire nursing staff on the phone, just constantly dial, dial, dial, asking for help for one of our neighbors or our family members," Rau says.

Last week, because of transfer delays, one of their patients died before they could get him to another facility.

"We know these people," Rau says.  "These are our family members, our friends. So, emotionally, it's... there wasn't a day last week when people were crying over the stress and the heartache of it.  And largely, this is avoidable.  This was avoidable.  All it takes is a vaccine."

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