Mississippi hospitals struggle with rising COVID-19 numbers

JACKSON, MISS. (WCBI) – On November 21st, Mississippi saw some of its highest COVID cases to date.

More than 1,9000 cases were reported last Saturday, and medical experts say we could surpass 2,000 cases sometime this week.

University of Mississippi Medical Center says they are operating at full capacity.

Doctors there say in some cases the numbers are worse than they were in the summer, and they are very concerned with the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday as well as college students returning home for the break.

“Here at this medical center at this hospital, we could not handle a surge of a whole lot more patients, you know, coming at us,” said Dr. Louann Woodward, Vice Chancellor for health affairs. “We are at capacity as we speak.”

“In the last week, we’ve had an increase in the number of requests that we’ve seen coming to our hospitals from outside of the state requesting transfers from other states, as far away as Missouri, into the state for ICU beds,” said Dr. Thomas Jones, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs.

“We’re doing our best to take care of every person that comes through the door. That’s what we’re here for,” said Lacey Ward, Emergency Department RN. “That’s what we’re meant to be, but when you have a full department, and you still have people walking in the door, you have to figure out how to take care of them in different ways and move people around, and there’s only so many rooms.”

Medical experts say it’s not just UMMC that’s maxed out. They say hospitals across the entire region are struggling to meet demands and the next few weeks will be critical.