GA Coronavirus: $72M Committed For 300 Additional Hospital Beds

GEORGIA — Gov. Brian Kemp and the Coronavirus Task Force announced plans Saturday to deploy four temporary medical units for 88 hospital beds and expanded capacity at two reopened healthcare facilities for 208 beds to prepare for coronavirus patient surge. The state has committed roughly $72 million for these projects, including $12 million for additional medical staff at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany.

The state has purchased four temporary medical units with a total of 88 beds:

• 20 beds will be located in Rome
• 20 beds will be located in Albany
• 24 beds will be placed in Atlanta
• 24 beds will be available to deploy based on community needs

These units will be deployed in mid-April.

At the reopened Phoebe North Campus in Albany, there will be 12 new ICU beds available within the week, 15 general beds and 15 ICU beds by mid-April, and 59 general beds in May. At the reopened HCA Eastside Medical Center in Snellville, there will be a rolling start of 24 ICU beds and 36 general beds within a week and a rolling start, depending on staff availability, of 30 ICU beds and 17 general beds by late April.

“These projects have been underway for several weeks based on modeling and epidemiological recommendations, and we are following leads on several more proposals to expand healthcare capacity as we prepare for patient surge later this month,” Kemp said. “At every stage of decision-making, our team is consulting with public health and emergency management experts in the private and public sectors. Together, we are working around the clock to prepare for future needs in our fight against the spread of COVID-19 in Georgia. In the days ahead, we will finalize additional projects to expand our capacity and get critically needed resources to front line medical providers.”

The Department of Community Health, Department of Public Health, Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, Georgia National Guard, and Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget are working closely with federal agencies, members of the Coronavirus Task Force, the General Assembly, private-sector partners, and community leaders across Georgia to prepare the state’s healthcare network for increased patient surge and medical needs.

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Kemp also added a community outreach committee to the state's coronavirus task force that will focus on meeting the different needs of residents across the state during the new coronavirus, or COVID-19, crisis. Kemp selected officials from both the public and private sectors to sit on the outreach committee.

In late February, Kemp created a task force of health, airport, school and emergency preparedness officials to identify the best way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Georgia. Along with studying preventative measures, the task force is examining the best ways to deploy state resources to address the crisis and collaboration among levels of state government.

As of noon on Monday, there have been 229 deaths, 7,314 confirmed cases, and 1,332 hospitalized from coronavirus. This is an increase of 18 deaths, 49 hospitalizations and 667 new cases since Sunday at noon.

Kemp ordered a statewide shelter-in-place order that went into effect Friday. It's set to run through April 13. This date is in line with the state's public health emergency order. He also ordered Georgia public schools to stay closed for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year, and move to online learning.

Commercial laboratories have conducted 28,777 tests, and 6,866 came back positive for COVID-19. Among the Georgia Department of Health's 2,497 completed tests, 448 came back positive.

More than 1.2 million COVID-19 cases are confirmed worldwide and more than 70,000 people have died, Johns Hopkins reported Monday morning. The U.S. has over 337,000 cases, the most of any country as of Monday.

See more:

• What You Can, Can't Do Under Georgia's Stay At Home Order
• GA Coronavirus: More Than 600 New Cases Overnight, 18 Deaths
• Drive-Thru Coronavirus Testing Site Set Up At Georgia Tech
• GA Coronavirus Economic Stimulus Payments: What You Need To Do