Pioneers Memorial Hospital receives ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients

BRAWLEY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY)-Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District (PMHD),  receives five emergency ventilators that are much needed at the hospital.

As of this week, the hospital said they had at least seven coronavirus patients in their intensive care unit. 

“We were really starting to get pressed for the complex and transport ventilators. So we made a call to the Emergency Operations Center and let them know we felt like we were getting close to the maximum for those types of ventilators,” said Larry Lewis, PMHD CEO.

Within hours, Imperial County's Emergency Operations Center had allocated five ventilators for the hospital.

“Reach Air had called and advised me that they were helicoptering those five ventilators to us, in case that number continued to climb,” said Lewis. 

PMHD said they saw an increase in cases following Easter festivities, a trend that was also reported by the El Centro Regional Medical Center. 

“We kinda watch our reports on our daily basis and we’re within a patient or two of them every day and it has been increasing and what I see is the total number in the hospital climbing,” said Lewis.

According to the Imperial County Public Health Department (ICPHD), the county has received eight ventilators from the state of California. 

Five of the eight were supplied to PMHD.

ICPHD said the remaining three ventilators are being maintained at the county and will be deployed to local hospitals when the need arises.