ATLANTA – As COVID hospitalizations soar in Georgia and Democrats and Republicans spar over how to deal with them, the state’s largest hospital system is canceling all non-essential medical procedures and surgeries.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Grady Health System CEO John Haupert said, “The Labor Day weekend proved to be labor-intensive at Grady. Seriously ill patients with COVID-19 and other significant health issues inundated the hospital. And because other hospitals in the area are just as full, our weekend-long total diversion status did little to slow the steady stream of ambulance-delivered patients. And remember, like any other hospital, it is our responsibility to always care for anyone who comes through our doors – we will never turn anyone away.
“Because of the strain this is putting on the health system, our patients, and our staff, we must make some changes to the way we operate. As of today, we are canceling non-essential outpatient surgery and procedures. We will regularly review patient volumes to determine when we can resume those services. We are working through this as best we can, all while watching closely for a potential post-holiday COVID-19 surge.
“We realize this is a decision that will inconvenience our patients but is necessary under these extraordinary circumstances to keep our patients and staff safe.”
On Wednesday, two Georgia Democratic congressmen – David Scott of Atlanta and Hank Johnson of Stone Mountain – wrote a letter urging Gov. Brian Kemp to enact a statewide pause on elective, in-patient surgeries. They also called for Kemp to extend licensing waivers for hospitals and health-care workers who provide critical services beyond the current waivers’ Sept. 19 expiration date.
“Hospital systems are being forced to make difficult decisions about how to care for patients when there aren’t enough resources to go around,” the congressmen said. “Our state is at a critical point in its fight against the pandemic and as elected officials, we must prioritize the health and well-being of our citizens above all other considerations.”
In response, Kemp urged Scott and Johnson to “request the Federal Emergency Management Agency to set a maximum rate for contract health-care workers” and “demand clear guidance from the [federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and the White House regarding COVID-19 booster shots and their detailed logistical plans to assist states in this enormous undertaking.
“My top priority over the last month has been to ensure hospitals across our state have the necessary resources at their disposal to deliver care to Georgians in need,” Kemp wrote.
The governor said he has directed the state Department of Community Health to increase state-supported hospital staffing from 1,500 to 2,800 and authorized up to 2,500 Georgia National Guard troops to assist hospital systems with non-medical staffing needs.
Wednesday’s latest coronavirus figures from the state Department of Public Health show 1.14 million confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, with more than 20,000 deaths and 75,214 hospitalizations.
On Tuesday, a personal finance website, WalletHub, released a survey showing Georgia ranks 47th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of overall coronavirus recovery.
Coronavirus has sickened hundreds of thousands people and killed thousands more in Georgia. (Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
ATLANTA – Two of Georgia’s senior congressmen are urging Gov. Brian Kemp to take action in the wake of a surge in COVID hospitalizations.
U.S. Reps. David Scott, D-Atlanta, and Hank Johnson, D-Stone Mountain, urged Kemp Tuesday to order a statewide pause on elective, in-patient surgeries. They also called for Kemp to extend licensing waivers for hospitals and health-care workers who provide critical services beyond the current waivers’ Sept. 19 expiration date.
In a letter to Kemp, Johnson and Scott said the COVID-19’s delta variant has caused “a sharp increase in the number of confirmed cases, particularly among children and the unvaccinated.
“Hospital systems are being forced to make difficult decisions about how to care for patients when there aren’t enough resources to go around,” they said. “Our state is at a critical point in its fight against the pandemic and as elected officials, we must prioritize the health and well-being of our citizens above all other considerations.”
The letter follows numbers posted Sept. 3 by the Georgia Department of Public Health in which the state surpassed 20,000 coronavirus-related deaths. Scott and Johnson also said recent data shows unvaccinated patients have pushed Georgia’s hospitals to their capacity limits, with nearly 92% of emergency room beds in the state currently occupied.
In response, Kemp urged Scott and Johnson to “request the Federal Emergency Management Administration to set a maximum rate for contract healthcare workers” and “demand clear guidance from the CDC and the White House regarding COVID-19 booster shots and their detailed logistical plans to assist states in this enormous undertaking.
“My top priority over the last month has been to ensure hospitals across our state have the necessary resources at their disposal to deliver care to Georgians in need,” Kemp responded. He said he has directed the state Department of Community Health to increase state-supported hospital staffing from 1,500 to 2,800 personnel, and authorized up to 2,500 Georgia National Guard troops to assist hospital systems with non-medical staffing needs.
On Tuesday, a personal finance website, WalletHub, released a survey showing Georgia ranks 47th among all 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of overall coronavirus recovery.
“We urge you to take the necessary steps to ensure the availability of adequate hospital capacity to provide the best possible care for COVID-9 patients,” Johnson and Scott wrote. “Placing a temporary pause on elective procedures and extending licensing requirement waivers for hospitals and health-care workers would demonstrate Georgia’s commitment to our health care community and your continued dedication to eradicating the pandemic.”
“While well-intentioned, it is abundantly clear that you have not reached out to my office or spoken with hospital leadership across Georgia,” Kemp replied. “If you had, you would know I have repeatedly utilized executive orders to streamline licensing requirements on healthcare systems since March 2020.”
Scott is chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and Johnson is chair of the HouseJudiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet.
This story available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Former President Donald Trump will headline a Sept. 25 rally in Perry, his first appearance in the Peach State since the U.S. Senate runoff elections back in January.
The Save America rally will be held at the Georgia National Fairgrounds at 7 p.m. Doors will open at 2 p.m.
The announcement of Trump’s appearance comes only a few days after University of Georgia football great Herschel Walker announced his candidacy for the GOP Senate nomination.
Walker, who counts Trump as a close friend and supporter, is hoping to challenge Democratic incumbent Rev. Raphael Warnock next fall. Warnock ousted Kelly Loeffler in one of Georgia’s two Senate runoffs, with Democrat Jon Ossoff defeating Republican David Perdue in the other contest.
Trump has given indications he might seek the GOP White House nomination in 2024, after Joe Biden defeated the Republican incumbent in last November’s presidential election. Biden carried Georgia in an election in which Trump continued to allege voter fraud.
This story available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Georgia is one of the nation’s slowest states in terms of recovering from the coronavirus, a new survey shows.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, compared 50 states and the District of Columbia in three factors: COVID health, travel and leisure, and labor and economic factors. According to WalletHub’s metrics, Georgia ranks 47th in the nation in terms of COVID recovery. Only Hawaii, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Louisiana rank lower.
South Dakota, Maine, Iowa, Utah and New Hampshire are the nation’s top 5 recovering states.
Some of the factors that WalletHub considered in publishing the rankings included the percentage of the population age 12 and older that are fully vaccinated; share of vaccine supply used; positive test rates; death rates; hospitals with staff and supply shortages; average daily restaurant visits per population; unemployment rates; consumer spending levels at both pre-COVID and COVID levels; and total weekly job postings.
“The U.S. is gradually recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, though the delta variant has caused our progress to slow down,” WalletHub said in a news release that accompanied the survey. “While states have heavily relaxed their COVID-19 restrictions, some are starting to tighten them again. The country’s progress toward economic recovery has been largely possible because of its public health improvements, due to the distribution of the vaccine.
“As of Sept. 7, around 53% of the population has been fully vaccinated. The vaccine has been shown to be very effective at protecting vaccinated people from serious symptoms of COVID-19, and the greater level of safety will also lead to increased consumer confidence.”
Georgia’s overall vaccination rate is 42%, according to USA Facts. Overall, more than 4.4 million Georgians have been fully vaccinated, while more than 5.5 million, or 51%, of the state have received at least one dose.
According to the latest state Department of Public Health figures, more than 1.1 million confirmed COVID cases have been reported in Georgia since the pandemic began, with more than 20,000 deaths.
This story available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
A new study from a Washington, D.C.-based think tank shows a decline in the number of child-care workers in Georgia over the last several years, a decline that was particularly devastating during the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center’s updated National and State Child Care Data report, there were 14,350 child care workers in Georgia in 2020. That number represents a 17% decline in the number of child care workers from 2019 and a 25% decline since 2016.
In 2020, the annual mean salary for Georgia’s child care workers was $21,100. The ration of child care workers in Georgia to infants is 1 to 6; 1 to 8 for young toddlers; 1 to 15 for older toddlers; and 1 to 18 for preschoolers. According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, those best practice rations should be 1 to 4; 1 to 4; 1 to 6l and 1 to 10 for those respective categories.
“COVID-19 laid bare many of the challenges in our nation’s child care system,” said Luci Manning, spokesperson for the organization. “These issues include retaining and recruiting staff, the high-cost burden on parents, and lack of a sustainable business model for child care providers—many of which are women-owned small businesses.”
According to the organization, nearly 24 million children ages 5 and under live in the U.S., with 63% living in households in which all parents work.
Other Georgia-related data compiled in the report show: There are 784,969 children ages 5 and under in the state. While 63% of children ages 5 and under live in households in which all parents work, 24% of all children in this age group live in families below the poverty line.
This story available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
