COLUMBIA, Tenn. (WTVF) — Maury Regional Health reported that it’s on track to break its prior COVID-19 patient record of 102 that was set back in December.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Martin Chaney said the system had 93 COVID inpatients on Thursday, with 28 (30%) in critical care.
Maury Regional was forced to expand its ICU beds from 26 to 38 this week and may need to expand even more if more COVID patients require hospitalization and ICU-level care, Chaney said.
“We are experiencing an influx of critically ill COVID patients, the majority of whom are unvaccinated” said Dr. Chaney. “We also continue to see an increase in patients in our urgent care facilities and emergency rooms. When you look at local, regional and state trends, we can only expect these numbers to increase in the coming days.”
Chaney said 90.4% of hospitalized COVID patients at Maury Regional Health in August were not fully vaccinated.
According to a release, vaccination rates in the health system’s primary six-county service area range from 32% to 59.2%. While it serves a multi-county region, Chaney said Maury County alone has averaged 96.9 new cases per day over the past 14 days, an increase of 69% from the prior 14 days.
For the second day in a row, Tennessee has set a record for the number of patients hospitalized due to COVID. Overnight data from the Tennessee Department of Health shows there are now 3,501 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Tennessee.
