REEVES COUNTY, Texas — Reeves County Hospital is feeling the weight of this COVID surge.
The rural hospital in Pecos has seen an influx of patients with COVID complications, straining staff and resources.
Sounds similar to the issues facing other hospitals in the Basin, right?
But what makes RCH's situation unique is they are also providing medical care to hundreds of children and staff from the migrant holding facility.
According to the hospital’s CEO, Brenda McKinney, the hospital typically sees about 25 to 27 patients a day in the ER. Recently, the visits have doubled.
Last Saturday, the hospital had 54 patients, the most the ER had ever experienced.
About 19 of those were children and staff from the migrant holding facility.
“I never thought I’d go through a pandemic, but then on top of that have a camp that houses I think over 1,100 kids and several hundred staff members to take care of those kids,” McKinney said. “We’re trying to help deal with any issues they bring to our facility.”
But the migrants and staff going to the hospital are not going for COVID reasons.
“We’re seeing a little bit of everything,” McKinney said. “We’re seeing the children come in with different immune system issues. You know, a lot of these children have not had a lot of healthcare in the past, so when they get here they are not in the best of condition.”
On top of that, the hospital’s also tending to staff from the camp.
“Staff come in for injuries that happen out there or they too have different health issues they haven’t addressed,” McKinney said.
Mckinney told NewsWest 9 since most of the children have received minimal healthcare growing up, they are susceptible to all sorts of diseases.
Just a few weeks ago, about 300 kids had chickenpox.
The facility is supplying vaccines for different diseases, including COVID19, but the hospital is providing additional care.
“The physicians and the nurses at the facility have been able to manage, but they just call on us for medicines and different things like that,” McKinney said.
McKinney said managing the influx of patients has been tricky in Pecos because they are also short about 20 staff members.
“We just don’t have a lot of the resources,” McKinney said. “I currently am 12 RNs short, that may not seem like a lot to a bigger facility, but to a small facility that is a lot of staff we're short."
The hospital’s staff is having to work more than they ever have to keep up with demand.
So what can people in Reeves County do?
Well McKinney said if you need to go to the hospital, only go for an emergency.
Otherwise, try to see a primary physician or go to one of their clinics.