By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
State health officials are seeking federal help for 14 Arizona hospitals as they attempt to deal with the Covid pandemic.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it has been asked to provide staff who can administer monoclonal antibodies at seven of those hospitals, all in the state’s two largest counties. Those antibodies are a treatment for individuals who already have contracted the Covid virus.
There also are what the agency calls “open requests” for staffing in emergency rooms and nursing support at the Yuma Regional Medical Center and Canyon Vista Medical Center in Sierra Vista.
And the Department of Health Services tells Capitol Media Services it also has asked for aid for hospitals in Kingman, Bullhead City, Bisbee, Douglas and Willcox.
All totaled, state health officials say the seven rural hospitals are seeking a total of 133 staffers to deal with the situation.
The requests come as hospitals across the state continue to find themselves struggling to deal with the crush of new cases of Covid even as both bed space and, more to the point here, staffing cannot keep up.
And just this past Tuesday, Dr. Majorie Bessel of Banner Health said that the trends could put the hospital chain, the largest in the state “where we will be unable to meet the care needs of all Arizonans.”
