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Georgia National Guard arrives at hospitals
The Georgia National Guard have begun arriving at hospitals to help in the fight against COVID-19. Thursday, guardsmen got a standing ovation at Piedmont Fayette Hospital.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. - Members of the Georgia National Guard have begun arriving at hospitals across the state to help beleaguered health care workers in the battle against COVID-19.
Governor Brian Kemp ordered more than 100 guardsmen to deploy to ten hospitals throughout the state.
Some of them arrived Thursday at Piedmont Fayette Hospital in Fayetteville to a standing ovation.
The service members were filling out paperwork on Thursday so they could get to work on Friday.
Piedmont Fayette Hospital, with its 282 beds, is at capacity right now, officials said. This is a regional hospital so COVID-19 patients come from Fayette County, Clayton County, South Fulton, Coweta, and as far away as Macon and south Georgia.
The Chief Nursing Officer for the hospital said staff, and she calls them heroes, welcome the assistance of the guard members. They bring specific health care skills from their personal lives to the tremendous and often overwhelming tasks of dealing with this wave of COVID 19.
Piedmont Fayette is one of ten hospitals that Governor Kemp offered assistance to. Other hospitals in our area included Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Wellstar Kennestone in Marietta, Piedmont Henry in Stockbridge, and Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
It’s not known how long they will be deployed at this or any of the hospitals.
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