OSDH: Army, Air Force to assist Oklahoma City hospitals during continued COVID-19 surge
Three military medical teams are headed to Oklahoma City metro hospitals as the COVID-19 omicron surge continues to overwhelm care providers in the Sooner State.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Three military medical teams are headed to Oklahoma City metro hospitals as the COVID-19 omicron surge continues to overwhelm care providers in the Sooner State.
According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), an Army medical team will assist medical workers at OU Medical Center and two Air Force medical teams will assist at INTEGRIS.
“HHS has confirmed to us that three medical teams have been approved to provide support to two metro healthcare systems. One medium sized Army medical team will work with OU Medical Center and the two smaller sized Airforce medical teams will work with Integris. All three teams should be in the state by early February. The exact details on dates and medical personnel on each team have not been confirmed.”
Erica Rankin-Riley, OSDH
On Friday, data from OSDH shows 2,243 Oklahomans were hospitalized with COVID-19 on average over the past three days, some of the highest numbers the state has seen in the pandemic. Authorities also noted that there were 98 pediatric hospitalizations for COVID-19 included in that number.
“We are two years into this pandemic and today we broke a record, not a good record. We have more COVID positive patients in our hospitals in Oklahoma than we ever have,” said Julie Watson, M.D., INTEGRIS Health Chief Medical Officer, earlier this week.
OSDH says no other information is known about the military assistance at this time.