News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville Regional will suspend elective surgeries that require overnight stays effective immediately.
CRMC CEO Paul Korth said it’s an effort to free up beds with the recent COVID surge.
“We are surging up in our numbers and we’re doing things appropriately to to take care of those patients,” Korth said. “We’re also looking at ways to get those patients home much faster, either on home health treatments or different different means to get those patients taken care of. ”
In addition, the medical center made temporary changes to the intensive care unit Tuesday that created six new beds. Korth said the team also has temporary beds in place if needed to deal with COVID cases.
“I feel OK with the stuff we’re doing,” Korth said. “I feel very confident we’ll we’ll take care of the needs of the community.”
Putnam County reported 46 new cases Tuesday according to data released by the Tennessee Department Of Health. The active case tally stands at 460. Overton County stands at 200 cases. White County reported 137 active cases.
“I would just continue to encourage individuals that if they are going to get to gatherings that they do in a way where they can social distance themselves and also wear a mask, I think that is a very critical and very important thing to focus on,” Korth said.
CRMC suspended elective cases in the weeks after the community reopened and COVID cases rose.
