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Imperial County: local hospitals ready to receive COVID-19 vaccine

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December 10, 2020 11:11 PM
Published 6:36 PM

Both hospitals running low on intensive care unit beds

EL CENTRO, Calif.(KYMA, KECY) - Imperial County Public Health Officer Stephen Munday said the county has several freezers ready for the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it comes to our area.

“We have already been meeting and preparing all this behind the scene stuff. To make sure we were ready so that the instant it hits our community we are ready to start using it, again once it’s approved it, we’ll receive our doses, we’ll get it distributed because our hospitals already have the necessary freezers required,” said Stephen Munday, Imperial County Public Health Officer.

Meanwhile, both hospitals in Imperial County are running low on intensive care unit beds.

There are currently 93 COVID patients at El Centro Regional Medical Center. It is the highest number of COVID patients the hospital has treated.

There are 23 COVID patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and only 1 ICU bed is available.

At Pioneers Memorial Hospital, they have 74 patients and 34 of them are COVID patients.

Pioneers Memorial Hospital said they are reorganizing resources to have six ICU beds available by Monday.

 "We currently have 3 ICU covid positive patients in the emergency room at this point, we are re-organizing resources and expect by Monday to have 6-8 ICU beds on the second floor, we're creating progress on additional expansion maybe up to another ten total," said Larry Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of Pioneers Memorial Hospital.

 El Centro Regional Medical Center is also expecting 35 additional staff members from the Disaster Assistance Medical Team (DMAT) from the state to arrive Friday.

"We currently have 24 ICU beds, and we hope that with the team arriving and Medsearch opening we'll be able to have more," said  Dr. Adolphe Edward, Chief Executive Officer of El Centro Regional Medical Center.

 ECRMC and Pioneers say the surge in COVID patients is related to the Thanksgiving weekend and advise people to be more cautious for the upcoming holidays.

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Gianella Ghiglino

Peruvian-born and LA raised Gianella Ghiglino joins the team from the San Fernando valley. “LA is the place that taught me how to breath and Peru is my breath.” She says she was inspired by the community she grew up in and began documenting her experience through poetry at the age of 7. “I wrote about everything I saw, felt and everything that inspired me.” When she entered High School she joined her school news station and realized that broadcast journalism allowed her to pursue her passion and her purpose all at once. Gianella attended Cal State Northridge and received a Bachelors degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Spanish Broadcast Journalism, and Political Science. She did several internships while in College but most notably interned for PBS’s local LA station for three years. “My purpose is to share my story and of those in my community, my passion is writing.”

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