FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Governor Asa Hutchinson's newly appointed COVID-19 winter task force met for the first time this morning.
Its job will be to look into ways to keep the state’s hospitals from becoming overwhelmed as coronavirus cases continue to surge.
It was a productive first day for members of the governor’s COVID-19 winter task force that gathered virtually from all across the state.
“It was a good meeting. It went as I would expect. The governor gave the task force a charge. He divided the task force up into several select committees that will focus on specific areas," said Dr. Cam Patterson, Chancellor of UAMS.
While the task force didn’t provide the governor any recommendations yet, Hutchinson made one thing very clear.
“It wasn’t a time to solicit opinions, but the governor made it very clear that the tempo for the task force needed to be on an accelerated pace," Dr. Patterson said.
Task force members say the trend of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations is not good right now. They say in the last day or two the Northwest Arkansas region has seen inpatient COVID-19 positive patients in the mid-80s.
“We’ve seen a 40-50% increase in the number of covid positive patients needing care in Northwest Arkansas," said Larry Shackelford, President & CEO of Washington Regional Medical System.
A spokesperson for Mercy Fort Smith says there are 13 isolation rooms in ICU and 44 other beds for a med surge. At this time 12 patients with COVID-19 are in the ICU at the hospital and 26 others in COVID-19 units.
“I feel like this next couple of weeks is going to be really important and we need to do what we can to be sure we can keep the number of patients needing hospitalizations under control," Shackelford said.
While there are enough resources and space available right now the task force is trying to prevent that from changing.
The subcommittees are planning to meet again this week.
The entire task force is expected to meet with the governor by the end of this week or early next week.