Another field hospital with critical care capacity is now under construction on the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s campus – just days after the first in the state was opened in the parking garage of the medical center.
The opening comes in response to a record number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations across the state, and an “increasingly dire” crisis, the hospital said on Monday.
On Monday, Samaritan’s Purse began setting up the second surge facility for adult patients in another parking lot on the UMMC campus. Medical staff from the organization will provide care for up to 32 patients at a time. The facility will include five intensive care beds.
“We have approximately 30 patients statewide, including upwards of 10 individuals at UMMC, waiting for ICU beds at any given time,” Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor of health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine at UMMC, said in a statement. “These startling numbers prove just how critical the COVID-19 crisis is in the state.”
Hospitals around the state will continue to transfer severely ill COVID-19 patients to UMMC for a higher level of care.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos