US Military arrives at Eisenhower Health to help with staffing shortages

On Thursday afternoon a team of 21 U.S. Air Force medical personnel arrived at Eisenhower Health in Rancho Mirage to assist with the hospital's staffing shortages. Some of the team members were dressed in uniform, and others in plain clothes as they entered the hospital doors.

"Their primary mission is to support the COVID response," Department of Emergency Services Public Information Officer, Shane Reichardt said.

The team was made up of a variety of medical staff members, including doctors, nurses and respiratory specialists.

"Eisenhower Medical Center has requested some medical assistance for staffing and what we did is the county facilitated that request by pushing that up to the state and we were able to secure a federal team," Reichardt said.

Aside from navigating through a surge in Coronavirus cases, the hospital has also experienced other hurdles.

"We have available bed space here in the hospital but have really run into roadblocks of trying to staff for those beds, find additional staff from outside of the area," Eisenhower Health Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Alan Williamson said.

Eisenhower Health released video Thursday to give a firsthand look at the hospitals' intensive care unit. Medical staff on the outside of hospital rooms are having to work in tandem with staff inside to prevent the spread of the virus. Those working inside a hospital room are fully equipped in personal protective equipment, and have to undergo a rigorous routine of changing equipment when entering and exiting rooms.

As of Thursday Dr. Williamson said the hospital's ICU remained at capacity.

"We’re really operating at about 80 to 90 percent capacity in the hospital as a whole," Dr. Williamson said.

The help of a new medical team has come at a crucial moment for a group of exhausted staff members at Eisenhower Health. The goal was to keep staffing shortages from impacting patient care.

On Wednesday an advance team was also on site.

"Employee after employee literally stopped them in the hallway and thanked them very much for coming. They were so appreciative of the fact that we were getting this outside help," Dr. Williamson said.

The federal team that arrived on Thursday did not waste any time.

"Right now they’re currently inside the hospital and getting some on-the-spot training to learn where things are at, what the protocols, practices, and procedures are because they come from different places," Reichardt said.

The crew of 21 is expected to undergo training, and will be live on Saturday to care for patients bedside.

"Their deployment is for 30 days initially and then there will be a reassessment at that point as to where we are in the course of the disease here in the valley. If there is additional need beyond that, there’s certainly a possibility they may extend well beyond that 30 days," Dr. Williamson said.

Despite a surge in cases, officials reassured the public that that should not hinder anyone's need to call 911 in the event of an emergency.

"Just because we’re calling in additional help here at any of our hospitals, that doesn’t mean that our hospitals are not able to provide essential services. If someone’s experiencing chest pains, we want them to treat that like chest pains like any other day and call and get the help that they need," Reichardt said.