Gov. Brian Kemp announced this morning that he would deploy trained medical staff from the Georgia National Guard to assist at hospitals inundated with COVID-19 patients.
Kemp announced said 105 personnel will be sent in coordination with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Community Health.
The list of hospitals includes:
- Southeast Georgia Health System, Brunswick
- Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Gainesville
- Wellstar Kennestone, Marietta
- Piedmont Henry, Stockbridge
- Phoebe Putney, Albany
- Memorial Health University Medical Center, Savannah
- Navicent Health, Macon
- Grady Hospital, Atlanta
- Piedmont Fayette, Fayetteville
- Houston Medical Center, Warner Robins
“These guardsmen will assist our frontline healthcare workers as they provide quality medical care during the current increase in cases and hospitalizations, and I greatly appreciate General Carden and his team for their willingness to answer the call again in our fight against COVID-19,” Kemp said in a statement to the media. “This Georgia National Guard mission is in addition to the 2,800 state-supported staff and 450 new beds brought online I announced last week, at a total state investment of $625 million through December of this year. I continue to urge all Georgians to talk to a medical professional about getting vaccinated.”
Kemp has refused to bow to pressure to institute a statewide mask mandate or impose any new restrictions on gatherings or businesses. He allowed a public health state of emergency to lapse earlier in the summer.
Metro Atlanta hospitals have been diverting patients to other medical centers in the region as ICUs and emergency rooms fill up with unvaccinated patients as the delta variant of COVID-19 surges.
Just last week, representatives from metro hospitals made a public appeal and pleaded with those who haven’t gotten the vaccine to get the jab.
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