Federal medical team helps overworked hospital workers in Morehead

MOREHEAD, Ky. (WTVQ) – Monday marked the first full clinical day a federal medical team is helping overworked doctors and nurses at St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead, which has been dealing with staffing shortages and a surge of COVID patients.

Hospital President Donald Lloyd said COVID cases have doubled, the number of people needing ventilators has more than tripled and so has the number of people hospitalized.

All of those things combined has greatly alarmed us,” Lloyd said.

So, when he announced the hospital was getting federal help, the excitement was too much to contain.

“There were literally tears of joy from our doctors and our nurses and our therapists,” Lloyd said.

Llyod said he’s grateful the Federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, stepped-in.

Governor Andy Beshear requested the help on the hospital’s behalf.

It’s made up of 15 health care professionals and 15 Kentucky National Guard members are also helping out.

“It’s a very, very good feeling the fact that you know what you’re doing really means something,” Joseph Bail, commander of the Disaster Medical Assistance Team, said.

He said he knows the staff at St. Claire has been working hard – sometimes two or three shifts in a day.

“Each nurse might have had four or five patients,” Bail said. We’re able to cut that down to maybe two or three.”

Bail and Lloyd said hopefully people will see the drastic efforts it takes to handle the number of critically ill patients, who are mostly unvaccinated, and it’ll encourage them to get their dose.

It’s a message Morehead State student Nathan Timmons agrees with.

“I’ve worked in medicine for probably four years now, and I see the difference between those people who are vaccinated who get COVID and people who are not vaccinated,” Timmons said.

It’s a difference that can, unfortunately, mean the difference between life and death.