Starr Regional Medical Center’s ICU in McMinn County, Tennessee, is brimming with coronavirus patients as the state continues to hold a spot among the worst in the nation in recent COVID-19 cases per capita.
“Over the past few weeks, Starr Regional Medical Center has certainly seen and felt the impact of the COVID-19 delta variant,” hospital spokesperson Brandi Armstrong said Wednesday via email. “Currently, we are treating more than 20 patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 in our hospital. Between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, 97% of patients admitted for COVID-19 are unvaccinated, which is consistent with national trends.”
Starr Regional didn’t provide current capacity figures, noting that “hospital capacity is incredibly fluid and changes rapidly,” Armstrong said.
“To manage the increase in COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization, our hospital leaders are evaluating capacity within every department hour-to-hour, closely tracking fluctuations in emergency, acute and critical care areas and regularly reporting our capacity in these areas to the state and to our regional partners,” she said.
So far, staffing and resources at the hospital are adequate, she said.