On behalf of Memorial Medical Center (MMC) and our area medical providers, we’re coming together to clarify some information regarding the surge of COVID-19 cases in our area, our hospital’s capacity, and the impact of hospital operations.

To be clear, MMC has not suspended any services as a result of COVID-19. We continue to provide all of our specialty, hospital, and outpatient services to our community. Is our hospital busier because of COVID-19? Absolutely. Is our hospital also busy with non-COVID-19 patients? Yes. We are definitely seeing more COVID-19 cases in our emergency room and inpatient unit. But we’re also seeing an increase in non-COVID-19 cases. It’s just all around busier here at MMC and it’s tough on the staff and medical providers.

But being busy and being in crisis are distinctly different. We are busy, no doubt, but we are managing the situation with the resources in place we’ve been using since the start of the pandemic. Should the need arise to deploy a surge plan for an influx of patients, we have the framework in place to make that happen. We’re prepared, as we always have been, and we have all the elements in place to continue providing that care as usual.

There’s nothing “normal” about seeing a surge of COVID-19 cases in our community. There’s nothing “normal” about the hard and complicated shifts our strained staff and medical providers have to do to accommodate an increase of patients. But what is constant – and has remained constant – is MMC’s resolute commitment to the highest level of care and safety possible.

Are we concerned about the current surge of COVID-19 in our community? Yes, we are. It’s concerning to see the number of unvaccinated individuals coming to our emergency room and inpatient unit.

We cannot make it clearer: please get vaccinated. Doing so frees up the strain on medical resources that we know is happening. The strain is tolerable and we can handle it, but it certainly isn’t the ideal state. Please follow our medical experts’ advice when they say to get vaccinated, social distance, and mask. These aren’t just suggestions – they’re strong recommendations because we see the unfortunate impact in our hospital with patients that chose not to follow those recommendations. We’re asking our community to do these things because we care deeply about you and we want to see you healthy and safe.

We are immensely proud and humbled to work with some of the finest healthcare workers and medical staff we’ve ever seen. The level of commitment and dedication our providers and staff have in caring for our communities is unparalleled. We’re immeasurably proud of MMC and are looking to our communities – to you – to hold that same level of commitment to keeping our family, friends, and the public safe. This too shall pass. It’s been a long, fatiguing road with COVID-19, but we must carry on in a united front. And know MMC is providing the same, excellent care our community has come to expect. And we always will.

Jason Douglas, CEO of Memorial Medical Center

Monica Lee, MD, President of the Medical Staff