Texas Health Hospital Rockwall implements surge plan due to spike in COVID-19 cases
ROCKWALL, Texas - Texas Health Hospital Rockwall is implementing its surge plan because of a spike in people being hospitalized for COVID-19.
While Rockwall is not really what you would call rural, it is a much smaller community than the big urban centers where a lot of attention on hospital bed capacity has been focused.
But almost all of Texas is seeing a jump in people needed to be in the hospital because of the virus over the last six weeks. Texas Health Resources Rockwall is no different.
Texas Health Resources Rockwall is a 61-bed inpatient care facility.
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Like big urban hospitals, it’s shifting to handle an uptick in COVID-19 cases. It is seeing a three-fold increase since June 1.
The hospital's president posting on Facebook a community message reading in part: "because of the increase in patients seeking care for COVID-19, we have implemented our surge plan."
While several hospitals in North Texas are dealing with a sharp increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations, Texas Health Rockwall is one of the few to publicly announce its surge plan.
No one from the Texas Health Resources System would speak with FOX 4, and the state health department said no one was available for an interview.
The surge plans include things like non-urgent surgical and endoscopy procedures being postponed or rescheduled and the hospital has added waiting rooms to accommodate appropriate social distancing.
Everyone is screened entering the hospital. Masks are required at all times, as is social distancing. Visitation is limited to specific situations in what's called a visitor-by-exceptions-only policy for now.
The hospital emphasizes its emergency room and intensive care units continue to see and treat patients providing critical care.
With many people celebrating the Fourth of July weekend without PE and closer than they should be, one Texas Health Resources official said there could be another wave of cases in the next couple of weeks.
A hospital spokesperson said in an email: “We stand ready to provide care for our community, and we have the supplies and resources to accomplish our mission. But this uptick in cases clearly stresses those resources, as our caregivers manage very sick patients who require a great deal of care.”
RELATED: Interactive map of Texas COVID-19 cases