A Los Angeles Hospital is reportedly using their gift shop and a nearby chapel to house patients who have a severe case of COVID-19 as cases continue to increase substantially.
Patients at the Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital in Los Angeles are being housed inside the hospital’s gift shop, a chapel and even conference rooms after an influx of COVID cases, according to CNN on Monday.
The hospital, according to CNN, has five tents stationed outside, with one serving as a waiting room. Some of the patients, as well as others at different hospitals, are being treated on ambulances.
At one Los Angeles hospital, there are so many patients coming in that some are being put in the gift shop, a chapel or a conference room.
Hospital CEO tells @CNN they won’t turn patients away, but may have to employ wartime techniques for assessing care. https://t.co/L7kUAkx091— Sarah Boxer (@Sarah_Boxer) December 29, 2020
“We have patients in our conference room, in our chapel.” The Hospital’s CEO, Elaine Batchlor, told CNN. Batchlor said that the increase in numbers was putting major stress on all care, prompting some discussion on possible rationing of care to all patients. (RELATED: Cuomo Says Addicts In Rehab Facilities Are Next In Line For Coronavirus Vaccine)
“If we continue to see an increase in the number of COVID patients, we may be forced to do something that…we all really just loathe having to even think about.” Batchlor told CNN.
Batchlor stressed that, while the hospital would not turn patients away, they would have to employ techniques that are only seen, as reported by CNN, in war situations.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top medical expert on the White House’s coronavirus task force, has suggested that the surge has gotten out of control and would continue to get worse following holiday travel.
The coronavirus vaccine, which has slowly been rolling out this month, will also likely fall short of its inoculation goal of 20 million Americans.