Piedmont Athens Regional CEO grateful for community support during pandemic
Lee Shearer
lshearer@onlineathens.com
Workers at Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center won't forget the community support they have received during the coronavirus pandemic, hospital CEO Michael Burnett said Thursday.
Boy Scouts have made hospital gowns, while many others have sewn countless face masks. Area schools donated cleaning supplies, and companies and individuals have given food. Some Athens companies have provided meals for as many as 1,000 employees.
The University of Georgia also has been a big help — the clear face shields UGA workers fashioned on campus have been one of the "game-changers" Burnett described during an online town hall Thursday morning. UGA has also helped by sanitizing N-95 masks so they can be reused. The College of Veterinary Medicine even loaned a ventilator.
"The relationship with UGA is incredible," said Burnett, himself a UGA graduate.
Burnett recalled the day early on in the pandemic when hundreds of area residents drove by Piedmont and St. Mary's hospitals in "The Caravan of Care" to express their appreciation.
Burnett also talked about some of the changes in how medical workers are coping with COVID-19.
One big step was when the hospital gained the ability to test for COVID-19 at the hospital in April — another "game-changer."
Before, the hospital was treating all patients as COVID patients, and it was taking 15 days to get test results back.
"We were burning through all our PPE," Burnett said.
COVID treatment has changed now that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is better understood, he said. Fewer patients have to be in intensive care beds or on ventilators, and there's better understanding of what drugs and treatments can help, like the drug remdesiver.
There's no shortage of ventilators, and "supplies have gotten more stable," Burnett said, but "we do have to stay on top of PPE (personal protective equipment)."
Blood donations can also be an issue: "When we don't have enough blood, that's a major concern."
As far as patients, "we're seeing a little bit younger population now," Burnett said — more people in their 40s and 50s. In the first part of the pandemic, the disease hit the elderly much harder.
The areas where COVID-19 is surging most seems to be changing also, he noted. Hospitals from all over the state have asked Piedmont for help during the pandemic, but recently, calls are coming from hospitals in southeastern Georgia.
"Now, we're hopefully coming back down, but we're still getting a lot of requests for help from down there," Burnett said.
There have been COVID cases among hospital staff, as with other hospitals and medical providers, he said.
"It's part of the emotional journey we have been on, trying to take care of our own," Burnett said. "We're all tired."