STILLWATER, Okla. — Stillwater Medical Center declared a "Code Green" on Thursday, signaling a shift to its disaster protocols.
The disaster declaration comes in response to the record-breaking number of COVID-19 cases combined with the lack of staffing to handle the demand for care as a record number of healthcare workers miss work with the virus.
“It is important for the public to understand that our resources to provide care for our community are extremely strained right now,” said Shyla Eggers, Director of Public Relations for the medical center. “We are seeing a record number of patients daily which has resulted in our Emergency Department, our inpatient units, including ICU, and both of our urgent care locations to be at or over maximum capacity.”
Declaring the emergency gives the hospital the ability to put processes into place to consolidate resources, implement crisis strategies, and re-evaluate procedure schedules to assist in the staffing needs of the hospital.
“Testing for COVID-19 is an important step in decreasing the spread and keeping our community safe," said Necia Kimber, System Director of Quality and Infection Control. “However, due to large increases in positive cases and patient loads in the Emergency departments and urgent care clinics, we would like to encourage those who are seeking testing only and not medical care to utilize the alternate testing locations.”
Oklahoma is seeing record numbers of new cases reported throughout the week, spiking by more than 10,000 new cases on Thursday statewide.
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“If you have been exposed or are experiencing symptoms, please follow the CDC recommendations found on their website related to testing and isolation,” said Kimber.
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