The growing spread of the coronavirus has put a strain on healthcare systems across the country and now, locally. In wake of more and more cases of COVID-19 getting confirmed in Hoboken, Mayor Ravi Bhalla is taking action to ensure that every patient that gets admitted to the hospital receives the proper resources. Mayor Bhalla will be issuing an “urgent appeal for additional medical resources” today at 4:00PM. Here are the details:
Hoboken’s Need
Today, March 26th, at 4:00PM at 308 Willow Avenue, Mayor Bhalla and Carepoint staff will be making an urgent appeal to the state “to secure critical medical resources including ventilators and personal protective equipment {PPE} for Hoboken University Medical Center,” according to a press release.
The appeal comes after Carepoint has announced that the facility only has enough “PPE to last less than six days before an anticipated surge of patients due to COVID-19.” Currently, the hospital is using all of its 10 adult ventilators, with only emergency reserves remaining. As of March 26th, the Mile Square has 40 total cases of COVID-19. As more COVID-19 cases become confirmed, however, the need for ventilators and the proper medical resources to treat any hospitalized patients with severe symptoms grows. The ultimate issue at hand is whether or not those resources will be provided in time. Mayor Bhalla’s appeal will hopefully result in that need being met sooner rather than later.
On a grassroots level, the City is also seeking volunteer public health nurses and epidemiologists to help with COVID-19 issues. For those interested in helping, email Health and Human Services director Leo Pellegrini at lpellegrini@hobokennj.gov — use the subject line “Public Health Nurses and Epidemiologists.”
Read More: Latest Jersey City + Hoboken COVID-19 Updates as of March 26, 2020 | Daily
Beyond Hoboken
Hoboken, however, isn’t the only Hudson County city in dire need. Jersey City’s Christ Hospital “is warning of critical shortages of equipment,” according to NJ.com. Presently, JC has 130 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and like Hoboken, as that number grows {which, it inevitably will}, the need for sufficient and adequate medical resources increases.
According to NJ.com, the hospital is “critically low on medical equipment.” The hospital has 13 ventilators on hand and 10 of them are currently being used by COVID-19 patients.
In response to the shortage, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop took to working with the state to increase medical capacity. On March 26th, he tweeted that in regards to ventilators, “Christ Hospital was running close to 99% of capacity on ventilators. We worked with the state to secure ventilators and now have an additional 25% capacity. [For] JCMC, [it is] currently using 66% of available ventilators, so we have some more capacity here.”
Statewide
On a more statewide level, the growing number of COVID-19 cases have put a serious strain on the healthcare system and hospitals + their capacity to house patients. In fact, as of March 26th, the entire state has a total of 4,402 cases {and yes, that number is expected to grow}.
In light of that and as a means to care for any and all patients that need to be hospitalized, the state has been working with the Army Corps. of Engineers to create “four temporary ‘field hospitals,'” each with 250 beds to accommodate patients, according to NJ Spotlight. NJ Gov. Phil Murphy has said the first of these field hospitals will be open within the next week in Secaucus at the Meadowlands Center. Beyond the Secaucus one, three others will be opening within a month across the state to accommodate patients.
See More: COVID-19 Testing Sites in New Jersey + Your FAQs Answered
Again, we are all living uncertain times given this global pandemic. However, it’s especially important now more than ever to ensure that our hospitals and healthcare systems are equipped with the proper amount of resources to treat every patient with the best possible care. Times are tough, but rest assured, the state, country, and world will get through this.
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