(Seguin) — GRMC has officially reactivated its command center to continually assess and respond to COVID-19 issues as they arise.
Officials at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center say the numbers of COVID-19 patients at GRMC have been trending up since Thanksgiving and its emergency department has seen an increase of patients presenting to be seen for flu or COVID like illness.
Currently, GRMC has 18 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Seven of the 18 COVID-19 patients are in the ICU.
GRMC’s 7 day moving average of new COVID-19 admissions is three per day and the seven day moving average for COVID-19 hospitalizations is 16 per day. This information represents average numbers from GRMC alone. Last week, GRMC opened an additional critical care unit for non-COVID-19 patients.
Due to the recent uptick of COVID-19 hospital admissions, GRMC has also reached out to South Texas Regional Advisory Council (aka STRAC) for staffing assistance. At this time, officials say they have received assistance in the form of respiratory therapists and travel nurses who are currently helping them care for these high acuity COVID-19 patients.
As of Tuesday, Guadalupe County is reporting 5,303 COVID-19 cases. The total number includes 4,346 recovered, 205 confirmed active cases, and 75 probable active cases.
GRMC officials say as far as vaccine information, the hospital does not have information on COVID-19 vaccinations for the general public.
They say the state of Texas is distributing a first wave of vaccines to hard-hit metropolitan areas of Texas and GRMC expects to receive an allocation as part of the second wave of state distribution.
At this time, GRMC does not have confirmation on when it will receive vaccines or how many it will receive but it does remain in communication with the Texas agencies that are responsible for distributing vaccines. They say medical personnel that provide direct patient care are the highest priority for initial distribution.
Further guidance on the COVID-19 pandemic and hospital operation can be found at GRMC’s website at www.grmedcenter.com