Guadalupe Regional Medical Center has been experiencing a surge in the number of COVID-19 admitted patients at our facility for approximately five weeks. GRMC is currently caring for 39 COVID patients in addition to our non-COVID census.

GRMC Statistics: The 7-day moving average for COVID hospitalizations is 33 per day which represents a 15% increase from the prior week. The 7-day moving average for new COVID admissions is 6 per day.

89% of patients currently hospitalized at GRMC for COVID-19 are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated. Following CDC guidelines, GRMC considers people who are two weeks out from completion of second doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or one dose of the J&J vaccine to be “fully vaccinated”.

GRMC encourages the public to continue to practice prevention measures. Get vaccinated if your family doctor says you are an appropriate candidate.

GRMC’s Surge Response Continues: Last week DSHS announced it is working with staffing agencies to recruit 2,500 medical personnel to assist facilities with the current Texas increase in COVID-19 patients. GRMC has begun to receive some clinical staff from the State effort in response to our State of Texas Assistance Request but also continues to bring on health care providers (a mix of nurses and respiratory therapists) through private agency contracts. We are prepared to set up temporary units in non-traditional care areas to accommodate a higher volume of critical care patients if we receive enough staffing assistance.

This COVID-19 surge of patients is stressing GRMC systems as we work diligently to care for the high volume of critical care patients with limited additional staff. Please know that we are here to care for you but that Emergency Department wait times and routine communications with family may be delayed. We are holding some admitted patients in the ER as they await bed availability and this can impact response time.

Some patients who test positive for COVID-19 with mild to moderate disease and risk factors for progression to severe disease are candidates for monoclonal antibody infusions. GRMC has been working with our local medical community, Guadalupe County and off-duty paramedics, to provide this outpatient service to our high risk populations. Infusions are for treatment of active COVID-19 disease and should not be confused with the protective effect of vaccination.

COVID-19 Testing and Vaccine Information: If you are looking for local COVID-19 testing or vaccine locations please contact your local family physician and/or pharmacy or try the following websites:
https://www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/community-based-testing-sites/index.html#tx
https://tdem.texas.gov/covid-19/