Phoebe transitions from COVID-19 fight as it resumes delayed health services

CUTHBERT — After weeks of being on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital is resuming some services that had been halted after a recent decline in new coronavirus admissions.

However, other counties in the region may be in the situation Dougherty County was in several weeks ago — trying to flatten the virus curve — a veteran southwest Georgia lawmaker said.

Three southwest Georgia counties, Early, Randolph and Terrell, have among the highest cumulative case rates in the state. Calhoun, Mitchell and Sumter counties also have been hard hit.

“I think things in Dougherty County are leveling off, and we are just catching up,” state Rep. Gerald Greene, a Republican from Cuthbert, said. “It started with Albany being most at the center. We’ve had cases come out of Randolph, Terrell. It’s been almost a westward movement.

“Terrell County has not had a virus death in 14 days. Maybe we have reached a pinnacle and they will start leveling off. At least we would hope so.”

Albany is a shopping destination for many from the western counties in Greene’s district, which stretches from the Alabama line to a portion of Dougherty County, so that may have been how the virus reached the more rural locations.

Based on the explosion of coronavirus cases in the region, and the experience of other lawmakers, Greene said it is possible that the disease was present much earlier than the first confirmed case in Washington state on Jan. 21.

“A bunch of us were sick in December,” he said. “We had the worst coughs and headaches, just couldn’t shake it. I think it was already present and (people) were unknowingly spreading it around. That’s just my thoughts, and I’m beginning to hear the same thing from other people.”

Testing in the United States was delayed by weeks when the first testing kits proved to be faulty.

“It’s a mystery to me,” he said of why some counties to the west were so heavily affected. “We do have so much in common. We shop over there.”

Cuthbert, Dawson and Pelham had a high number of deaths among nursing home residents, and that is one potential common thread for why those communities had the high number of cases and deaths. The elderly are among the groups most susceptible to the coronavirus, both in terms of infections and deaths.

Some 46 patients of 60 at a nursing home in Cuthbert, the county seat of Randolph County, tested positive for the virus. The county of 6,754 has had 164 confirmed cases, the highest per-capita rate in the state, and 19 deaths. Terrell County has had 188 confirmed cases and 21 deaths.

There was no large outbreak in a nursing home facility, however, in Early County, Greene said.

After outbreaks at nursing homes, Gov. Brian Kemp sent help to disinfect facilities.

“When we needed help with disinfecting, the National Guard was sent to us,” Greene said. “I can tell you that everything that we have done, the governor has supported us with recovery. The governor has worked overtime for south Georgia, and we appreciate that.”

Through Monday, there were a reported 125 deaths of coronavirus-positive patients in Dougherty County.

Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler reported last week that the majority of those who have died had diabetes. Hypertension is another pre-existing condition that has been a factor in a number of the fatalities.

As of Monday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported 29,177 COVID-19 cases in the state, up from 27,023 reported on Friday. Statewide, the agency reported 1,211 deaths.

Phoebe discontinued its drive-through testing site last week, as the National Guard opened a site in Albany located behind the Albany Civic Center. It is testing all patients admitted to the hospital.

The no-cost testing is available to anyone, even those who do not have symptoms.

On Monday, there were 65 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Albany and 17 at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus. There were 57 COVID-19 patients in Albany on Friday, 17 in Americus and one at Phoebe Worth Medical Center.

“Phoebe also entered a new phase of its COVID-19 response Monday with the resumption of some health care services which had been curtailed,” Phoebe Putney Health System CEO Scott Steiner said. “Things are going well today as we restart some medically necessary procedures that have been delayed during our COVID-19 response. The Phoebe Family is going to extraordinary lengths to ensure that patients are safe at every Phoebe facility. As an example, our teams deep-cleaned and used disinfecting foggers throughout our entire main emergency center overnight.”

In addition to testing new patients, Phoebe has initiated separate waiting and treatment areas in its emergency room for patients showing symptoms of COVID-19 that are separately ventilated.

Throughout the crisis, Phoebe’s work has been exceptional, Greene said.

“I can’t say enough about Scott Steiner and his staff,” he said. “They have been fantastic, and they have worked so hard and been under the limelight of the entire nation. Kudos for their work.”

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