Baptist Health Corbin and Saint Joseph London host joint press conference

They are overrun, and they want people to get vaccinated and wear masks.

That was the overwhelming sentiment of a joint press conference with officials from Baptist Health Corbin and Saint Joseph London last week.

“Our staff are working tirelessly to care for our patients. I am in awe of their resilience, but they are growing tired. Together, we are asking that everyone do their part to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Please get vaccinated, and please continue to take precautions such as wearing a mask and social distancing as much as possible,” stated Baptist Health Corbin’s President Anthony Powers.

He echoed the words of Saint Joseph London President John Yanes who said, “Most of the patients in our hospitals now are younger, sicker and unvaccinated. Our best resource to care for our families, friends and neighbors, and to end this pandemic is the vaccine. We urge the community to get the COVID vaccine and continue to wear a mask, especially inside or in large crowds outdoors.”

Dr. David Worthy, the chief medical officer for Baptist Health Corbin said the hospital is struggling to find beds to elevate patients to higher levels of care.

“I personally spent four hours on the phone Tuesday morning trying to find an ICU [Intensive Care Unit] bed for one patient. I called hospitals in Indiana, Ohio, as far away as the University of Pittsburgh and was able to find one bed for one ICU patient. I have never seen that situation before. Every place that I called basically said the same thing, ‘We are overwhelmed also. We have no ICU beds’,” said Worthy. “We need all hands-on deck.”

At Saint Joseph, Director of the Intensive Care Unit Kelly Helton said the staff has reached a point of ‘moral distress.’

“We love what we do. We are happy to provide this service for our communities. We love the patients we serve. It is just, at this point in time, we are morally distressed with the volume of the patients and the care that we are having to provide,” said Helton.

Her colleague, Director of Critical Care Dr. Kathryne Blair said the surgery department has taken over managing the ICU.

Baptist Health Corbin Pharmacy Manger Joshua Bowling also urged the community to take the vaccine stating more than 5.6 billion doses have been administered worldwide and approximately 32 million doses are distributed each day. Bowling said that the side effects are most often acute and resolve within 24-48 hours.

Worthy said the vaccines are safe and effective. He claimed the chance of having a severe reaction to a COVID vaccine is actually lower than that of taking Penicillin.

In August, Baptist Health Corbin restricted visitation and closed its surgical unit to accommodate more COVID positive patients.

Saint Joseph London has followed similar procedures in closing the doors to visitors.

Numerous health officials from both hospitals stated that the majority of their COVID patients were unvaccinated.