FORT SMITH, Ark. — The Arkansas Department of Health is reporting a record-high number of COVID-19 hospitalizations across the state, surpassing numbers from January when it was at its peak. Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith is feeling the effects, nearing full capacity with a limited staff to take care of the surge of COVID-19 patients.
Arkansas COVIDComm is a contractor for the health department and aids in transporting patients to hospitals across the state.
Program Commissioner Jeff Tabor says out of the 42 receiving hospitals on their list, as of this morning only one had the capacity to take COVID-19 patients.
Transporting patients with severe symptoms to larger, more equipped facilities is a challenge some rural Arkansas hospitals are facing.
"Transportation is always one of our critical issues in rural, it always has been, getting patients from these rural areas to the access points to care," said Ryan Kelly, Rural Health Association of Arkansas. "Hopefully as we move along our technologies will be able to connect us even better."
Dr. Kevin Davis with Mercy says their facility is taking new patients but it's not a guarantee they will be admitted right away.
Dr. Davis says they have had patients wait in the emergency room for a hospital bed. Sometimes hospital staff has to recommend patients go to another facility for care.
"At any given time, we are waiting on discharges to give patients room on the regular floor or the ICU," Dr. Davis said. "At times we are having to go on diversion, and send patients out to other facilities, depending on the time of day and our census."
Currently, Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith has 16 patients in the ICU, and half of them are on ventilators.