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Madison hospitals prepare for COVID-19 surge as workers test positive, worry about safety
Madison hospitals are acquiring more ventilators and looking at adding intensive care beds, as some hospital workers have started testing positive for COVID-19 amid a national shortage of protective equipment that has some workers questioning their safety.
An SSM Health doctor and a UW Health worker have tested positive for the new coronavirus, and close contacts are being notified, the organizations said Friday. SSM Health said the doctor wasn’t ill when last seeing patients and self-quarantined when symptoms arose. UW Health said it had “a positive result on our team” and expects more.
(snip)
Among the three general public hospitals in Madison, only UnityPoint Health-Meriter has had a hospitalized patient with COVID-19, leaders of the hospitals said Friday. The patient has been discharged, Meriter CEO Sue Erickson said.
(snip)
To handle a potential surge of patients with COVID-19, which can cause serious respiratory problems, hospitals around the state are trying to boost capacity. The state has a total of 2,500 intensive care beds and 620 ventilators, Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm said Friday, a tally that won’t be enough if some forecasts of the pandemic come true.
(Much more at link)
https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/health-med-fit/ssm-health-doctor-tests-positive-for-covid/article_0ccb37cd-2fad-5460-b5cf-4137f4a7d6a7.html