Tifton, Georgia, a small city in the south central part of the state, is just shy of 300 miles away from Chattanooga.
On Monday, Chris Dorman – CEO of the Tift Regional Medical Center – told the Tifton Gazette that the coronavirus was “back with a vengeance” and that all the critical care beds in his nine-county region were full.
Due to the capacity issues not only in Tifton area but nearly everywhere in Georgia, Dorman was desperate to admit patients to intensive care unit beds. Dorman looked north toward Tennessee.
“The nearest ICU bed I could find when I was trying to transfer a patient out was in Chattanooga,” Dorman told the Tifton newspaper. “Most of the hospitals in Georgia, especially the larger hospitals, are at or around diversion status. They might have one bed, but most of the ICU areas are full.”
Hospital beds – both critical care and general population – are quickly filling up around Georgia.