White Memorial hospital getting help from National Guard, state, Army

LOS ANGELES - Adventist Health White Memorial hospital, a facility that's been over-stretched by the COVID-19 virus and deluged with patients is getting some help now from the California National Guard, the state, and the Army Corps of Engineers.

White Memorial, in Boyle Heights, now has two National Guard medical strike teams working side-by-side with the medical staff at the hospital, Certified Nursing and Medical officer Patricia Stone told City News Service.

The teams include one registered nurse, six or seven medics and one non medical officer, Stone said.

"They are working 12-hour shifts from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.,'' Stone said. "They are drawing labs, drawing blood, moving patients into beds, basically everything the regular medical staff is doing.''

Stone said the medical staff is "thrilled'' to have the strike teams here working alongside them. Stone said they arrived on Dec. 29, and she expects them to stay at least until Jan. 7. But hopefully, they will be able to stay longer, she added.

"I will know more about what is going on and where we stand after we hold a review meeting on Saturday,'' Stone said.

She said the state did provide about 10 days ago a bulk tank facilitator, which is helping to facilitate the flow of oxygen to patients. And the hospital has been promised by the state, some 40 oxygen concentrators, which haven't arrived yet. The concentrators are small units that patients can borrow and take home to help provide them supplemental oxygen as they need it, she added.

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