COVID-19. Global pandemic. Coronavirus. PPE. Community spread.
For almost ten long months, we have heard about these topics in our community, state, nation, and world, often to the point where we just don’t want to hear about them anymore. It’s what many are calling “COVID fatigue.” For those people who adopted recommended safety measures early on, perhaps you have grown tired of wearing a mask, not going to restaurants, and not seeing family and friends.
For those who never adopted safety measures, perhaps you prefer to live “normally” since you figure your or your family’s risk of getting infected or being ill from COVID is relatively low. After all, the mortality rate is fairly low, right, so how bad is COVID, really?
There is so much information circulating – and so much misinformation – that it’s difficult to know what’s real; and what’s not. Additionally, some people don’t pay attention until COVID has affected them personally.
Paulding County, the impact is real, and it’s now very personal to our community.
Wellstar Paulding Hospital – our community hospital, staffed compassionately 24/7/365 by our neighbors, friends, and family and the recent recipient of the top national quality award – is seeing a significant surge in patient volume, many very critical. This week, the capacity is around 118% – a number that has continued to rise over the past few weeks. What that means is that that the hospital is 18% *over* the number of licensed patient beds. More than half of the patients are COVID-positive or awaiting test results, and 86% of the patients in the full ICU are COVID patients.
That is far too many.
Hospitalized COVID-19 patients require intensive resources – often more than other patients – and many are very, very ill, with complex medical conditions either caused or made worse by the virus.
These are our beloved neighbors, friends, and family from right here in Paulding County.
And we are only at the beginning of seeing cases from Thanksgiving gatherings and kids coming home from college for the holidays. The numbers are rising, alarmingly. The trajectory of cases and hospitalizations for the coming few months is concerning.
Wellstar Health System is one of the largest health systems in Georgia, with extensive resources to help balance the load and serve our community with high-quality and compassionate care. The 11-hospital system has prepared for surge scenarios like the one we are currently facing and can shift resources where they are needed. Still, the virus is spreading significantly across the state, which impacts not only our healthcare workers but everyone in our community.
We must act together to Protect Paulding immediately. It’s an explicit plea so we can flatten the curve here in our community and at our local hospital. The hospital needs our support in this moment, and so do the families and friends of those who have fallen ill or died, as well as everyone who has the potential to contract COVID… and possibly succumb to it. The way the virus is currently spreading, that means every single one of us.
Paulding Countians always band together to do what’s right, to care for our community. Now is the time to band together to stop the spread. It is possible to support our businesses *and* keep each other safe, and that is what we need to do.
Please start wearing a mask when you are around other people. It has proven to slow the spread of the virus. In fact, we are seeing that it may be preventing the spread of the flu, too. It works, and it will help Protect Paulding.
We ask that you also think about how to minimize gatherings with other people. Getting together in groups – both large and small gatherings – without masks and social distancing is a big part of what is driving the rampant spread of COVID-19. Using technology for meetings and get-togethers – or at least wearing masks and keeping your distance – for a few more months *will* help Protect Paulding.
While we wait for vaccines, the best treatment we have right now is prevention. It is urgent for our community that we do things differently for the moment so we can Protect Paulding… together.
By: Dave Carmichael, Chairman, Paulding County Board of Commissioners
Stacy Hamby, President and CEO, Paulding Chamber of Commerce
John Kueven, SVP and President, Wellstar Paulding Hospital
