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PARKERSBURG -- Starting next week, WVU Medicine Camden Clark will be getting a pandemic assist from the West Virginia Army National Guard.
The hospital requested assistance and anticipates the arrival of 12 non-clinical support staff and a clinical liaison on Jan. 26. The clinical liaison will be someone like a doctor, nurse or pharmacist, a hospital spokesman said.
"The non-clinical team will be assisting with screening visitors at entrances, transporting patients, assisting on nursing units and in ancillary areas, stocking supply rooms, etc., and may be answering patient call lights and will be trained to serve as patient sitters," the spokesman said. "They will also be helping our dietary department with delivering trays to patients and helping with other dietary tasks and in housekeeping."
They could also provide clerical support in employee health and infection control, he said.
On Monday, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said 13 hospitals in the state had requested assistance from the Guard, with 115 members deployed. A representative of the governor's office said Tuesday that Camden Clark was included in those figures.
The requests are being coordinated by the state's Joint Interagency Task Force in an effort to address potential shortages of beds and staffing.
Camden Clark reported 60 COVID-19 patients on Tuesday, just over half of whom were unvaccinated. The hospital had 10 COVID patients in intensive care, only one of whom was vaccinated, and 10 such patients on ventilators, one of them vaccinated.
Ohio is also using National Guard troops in an effort to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed by the latest COVID-19 surge, fueled by the highly transmissible omicron variant.
Ohio Health O'Bleness Hospital in Athens County announced earlier this month that 10 Guard members were being deployed to the hospital to provide non-clinical support so hospital personnel could focus on providing care to patients.
No request has been made for Guard assistance at Marietta Memorial Hospital, said Jennifer Offenberger, associate vice president, service excellence, for the Memorial Health System. The hospital had about 38 COVID-positive patients Tuesday.
"We have seen an impact on the number of our own employees getting COVID, which has caused some staffing issues the last couple of weeks," Offenberger said. "We continue to deliver great care, thanks to many team members who are stepping up and working extra shifts and filling in as appropriate."
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.