Jasper Memorial Hospital President Wayne Moore has issued a statement giving an update on the status of Coronavirus patients that were moved from St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont to JMH for medical care.
Moore didn't give a number, he instead said an "extremely minimal" number of Coronavirus patients were brought from Beaumont to Jasper, and he said those particular patients are only a "very small percentage" of all Coronavirus patients being care for by the facility.
Moore went on to say that the Beaumont patients that were selected to be transferred to Jasper were patients "...whose level of illness was not considered severe, who could be easily cared for by our dedicated physicians and Associates at Jasper Memorial hospital."
Christus Health spokesman Kevin Dolliole recently released a statement saying that St Elizabeth was not overwhelmed with Coronavirus patients, and because of that fact they would continue to perform elective surgeries. That was despite Jefferson County being one of the counties in Governor Greg Abbott's order to discontinue elective surgeries, which also includes Jasper County.
Moore echoed Dolliole's earlier statement, saying "Instead, the decision to transfer a small amount of COVID-19 positive patients to Jasper Memorial hospital was made proactively, to prepare for any additional COVID-19 surge we may experience in Southeast Texas."
The following is the complete statement from Jasper Memorial Hospital President Wayne Moore:
CHRISTUS Southeast Health System takes great pride in serving our Jasper community, and I feel it is important to clarify the status of Jasper Memorial hospital with regard to COVID-19 positive patients, as well as our overall are ability to care for any patient in need.
We have transferred an extremely minimal number of COVID-19 positive patients from Beaumont to Jasper Memorial hospital. These patients make up a very small percentage of the total COVID patients we have been compassionately caring for at Jasper Memorial. This is part of our strategy as a health system in response to not only this pandemic, but has been used in many other emergency situations in the past. As we have said, we are very fortunate to be part of a large, multinational health care system. One of the largest benefits of this arrangement is having the ability to share resources among the numerous facilities under the CHRISTUS Health umbrella.
I want our friends and neighbors here in Jasper to rest assured that this move was made prayerfully and with careful planning. We identified COVID-19 positive patients at CHRISTUS St. Elizabeth hospital whose level of illness was not considered severe, who could be easily cared for by our dedicated physicians and Associates at Jasper Memorial hospital. Careful steps have been taken to isolate these patients and to minimize any potential exposure to our patients and Associates. The decisions were also made in collaboration with treating physicians and the patients themselves.
While this decision helped to open up additional bed space at St. Elizabeth hospital, we did not make this decision in response to a shortage of beds. We have worked hard to maintain enough bed capacity to treat all COVID-positive and non-COVID patients who may need medical or surgical care. Instead, the decision to transfer a small amount of COVID-19 positive patients to Jasper Memorial hospital was made proactively, to prepare for any additional COVID-19 surge we may experience in Southeast Texas.
While COVID-19 continues to grip our state, non-COVID related emergencies, such as strokes, heart attacks and accidents continue to occur, and I want you to know that we are here to treat you in your time of need. From the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have developed and implemented safe, effective ways to provide care to all those who need us.
However, we cannot do it without the community’s support. We ask that you help us by doing your part - wearing face masks while in public, maintaining at least six feet of physical distance between yourself and others and by practicing frequent hand hygiene.
As a health system, we strongly believe that there is strength in numbers, and your help makes us that much stronger. As always, CHRISTUS Southeast Texas is here for you.
Wayne Moore
President, CHRISTUS Jasper Memorial Hospital
https://www.kjas.com/news/local_news/article_8f8722fc-cd1a-11ea-b222-03f58080fb8f.html