UPDATE (December 13, 2021):
(ADAMS) – Maine, Michigan, and Indiana are among the latest states to request and get aid from the National Guard as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to overwhelm their hospitals.
Maine had 75 National Guard troops dispatched to the state this week to help amid the pandemic peak of 400 patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
In Michigan, state health officials said the Defense Department assistance was a “tremendous lifeline” as both cases and deaths are taking a toll on the hospital system.
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ORIGINAL STORY:
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (ADAMS) – IU Health is asking the governor to call out the National Guard to help with a flood of coronavirus and flu patients. The hospital made that request on Thursday.
No one is saying just how many troops could be sent to the hospital.
IU Health’s Dr. Chris Weaver says the Guard has medical teams that would provide both clinical and non-clinical support.
Three other states have already sent National Guard troops to hospitals or care facilities. Weaver says in addition to a spike in patients, he says doctors and nurses at IU Health are at the end of their ropes.
IU Health says about 125 people left recently because of the hospital’s coronavirus mandate.
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