Phoebe gets a double helping of good news in fight against COVID
Special Illustration: Phoebe
By Carlton Fletcher
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ALBANY — Despite being a hospital system that’s been worn down by its fight against the coronavirus pandemic and all but overwhelmed by the current delta variant of the virus, the Phoebe Putney Health System got a couple of waves of good news on Thursday.
First was the drop in patients being treated at Phoebe facilities in Albany, Americus and Sylvester — from 201 on Wednesday to 190 on Thursday, a significant reduction.
The second was the arrival Thursday of 10 National Guard troops to help at Phoebe’s understaffed health care facilities. The Guard troops were among some 100 sent to various hospitals by Gov. Brian Kemp.
Among the Guardsmen (and women) going through orientation and training at Phoebe Thursday were Capt. Justin Anderson, who is a nurse practitioner from Bainbridge.
“We’re here to squash the bug,” Anderson said. “We look forward to providing help to the community. There’s no task too small and no job too big.”
Meanwhile, Health System CEO/President Scott Steiner said Phoebe’s mobile wellness units are “going out in all directions” to administer vaccines.
“Sometimes we do 20, sometimes 100,” Steiner said. “We’re doing everything we can to get as many people in southwest Georgia vaccinated as we possibly can.”
The drop in COVID patients was welcome news after a record 214 were being treated at the hospital a week ago. Of the 190 COVID patients being treated Thursday, 155 were at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, 30 at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus and 5 at Phoebe Worth Medical Center in Sylvester.
Fifty-six of the patients in the Phoebe system Thursday were being treated in ICU, and 40 were on ventilators.
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