Grant Memorial Hospital feeling the impacts of COVID-19 surge

GRANT COUNTY, W.Va. (WHSV) - As hospitals in West Virginia continue to battle a surge in COVID-19 cases, officials at Grant Memorial Hospital say they’ve been operating at capacity for weeks.

“We do have two special care unit rooms, basically small ICU rooms here,” Bob Milvet, CEO of Grant Memorial Hospital, said. “They are full, the whole hospital is full, and our emergency room is also very busy.”

Milvet said Grant Memorial is a small hospital and only has 25 in-patient beds including 6 COVID patient beds that are filled up as of Thursday.

The hospital only has five ventilators, four of which are already in use.

Milvet said with a shortage of staff in hospitals around the state, transferring a patient has become more challenging as even larger regional hospitals are also filled up.

He said he appreciates the continued care staff are giving as they go through what feels like Phase two of the pandemic but one tool that’s helping them out is the use of monoclonal antibodies.

“If patients are sick with COVID but they do not require a hospitalization then we are highly encouraging folks to consider that,” Milvet said. “It’s been a game-changer we’re seeing about a half a dozen patients a day in our infusion area getting that specific drug infused.”

Milvet said those half a dozen patients may otherwise have been hospitalized.

He said over 90 percent of the hospital’s COVID admissions are people who are unvaccinated with some breakthrough cases of those vaccinated.

While Milvet believes they will see another peak in two weeks, he said those who are in need of care are still encouraged to come to the emergency room and receive care.

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