Mississippi's Memorial Hospital at Gulfport has been hit hard by COVID cases.
Because there is no ICU, the hospital had to cancel brain and cardiac surgeries.
Patients who require these procedures may wait for days in the best scenario.
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One hospital is unable to provide major surgery for patients who are afflicted by the positive coronavirus.
Two staff members told Insider that Memorial Hospital at Gulfport does not have enough ICU beds to accommodate patients who are waiting for heart and brain surgeries. The hospital cannot afford to cancel any patients who are in such dire need of ICU beds. Whitney Sutton, a registered nurse and ICU manager at Memorial, stated that patients needing these surgeries may wait days before they are available. Some patients will have to wait longer for up to two weeks.
Sutton stated, "They are lifesaving for those who need them." We try every day to make this work. We make the bed and then give it to the next person who isn't doing well.
Many COVID-19 patients are flooding the hospital, many of them unvaccinated. Brandi Ladner, a respiratory therapy manager, said that sometimes nurses can hear patients regretting not being vaccinated.
Mississippi's 36.8% vaccination rate is second in the nation, behind Alabama. Harrison County, where Memorial is located, has a lower rate. According to the latest data from the Mississippi State Department of Health, 32% of Harrison's population has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus.
Officials are working hard to stop the spread of coronavirus. Last week, the top health official in the state announced that anyone who tests positive for the virus should quarantine at their home for a period of 10 days.
It has spread quickly throughout the state. Doctors and nurses at Memorial believe it to be linked to the majority of positive cases they have seen.
Ladner claims that the hospital is seeing more younger patients. Memorial's COVID-19 patients in recent weeks were on average between 40- 50 years old. However, the virus is also affecting patients younger than 50 years old.
Ladner stated that these are 30-year olds with 6-yearolds and 12-year-olds who have their children in school. "And we must contact the spouse to tell them that we were unable to save them." A 24-year-old healthy COVID-19 patient is currently at Memorial. She is on life support.
According to Ladner and Sutton, morale among hospital workers responding to COVID-19 Memorial is worse than it was last year at the height of pandemic, when vaccines were not yet approved or developed.
Last year, there was concern that no one knew how to treat coronavirus patients. Memorial's medical staff is now equipped with the latest knowledge and approved vaccines. But it isn't easy.
Sutton stated that it seemed like a lost cause, because no matter how hard we try, it's never enough.
Sutton said that when someone dies from COVID-19, they have to get up and move on to the next room. You don't have the time to grieve or process those losses.
The hospital is asking people to get vaccinated. Ladner stated, "If you want your child to have a 16th birthday celebration, get vaccinated."
The combination of rising numbers and low vaccination rates is making it difficult for staff to make tough choices. For example, they may have to decide whether to help a COVID-19 victim or perform life-altering surgery.
Ladner stated, "It is unfortunate that there are other worse things that need the bed and they're left in the hallway."
