PINEVILLE, N.C. — A team of 16 federal support staff members from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will arrive in North Carolina on Wednesday to help with a surge in Atrium Health Pineville's emergency department.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) confirmed the details via a news release on Tuesday, Feb. 1. The team from HHS is set to remain on hand through Feb. 13, 2022.
This federal team includes five oversight and support personnel and 11 clinicians. The 11 clinicians include one physician, two advanced practice providers, four registered nurses, and four paramedics.
“It's kind of sad when we need to go out because there has been some kind of public health emergency, some kind of disaster where humans have been affected, and friends and neighbors have been affected," Marc Scherschel, the Team Commander of the HHS Disaster Medical Assistance Team, said.
"We’re extremely grateful for the support of our state and federal governments, specifically Governor Cooper, NCDHHS and HHS, to share this team of medical professionals for our Atrium Health Pineville emergency department," Dr. James Hunter, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Atrium Health, said. "Our dedicated health care heroes at Atrium Health have worked very hard throughout the pandemic, and like many others across the country, are feeling the effects of this latest surge. Knowing their work is being recognized and supplemented by this team to lend a hand is very meaningful for them."
Atrium Health Pineville’s emergency department is facing a unique problem.
“We also faced the challenges of a wide catchment area across two states, and additionally, the challenges of an influx of patients from South Carolina," Dr. Sheela Myers, Chief Medical Officer at Atrium Health Pineville, said. "And so we see that filling not only our emergency department but our hospital as well.”
The federal team is meant to be temporary.
"We're meant to augment the staffing that that is in place," Scherschel said. "So we're here simply to help bridge the gap during this current surge, and, you know, provide care for those patients for a short, brief period of time, as we kind of move into the future.”
There is a plan in place once they leave.
“We redeploy nonclinical teammates to help with some of the non-clinical tasks across the hospitals, to help alleviate some of the needs with getting supplies for our clinical teams right there at the bedside," Myers said.
In the meantime, the hospital is trying to recruit more workers to handle the surge of pandemic-related cases.
The support personnel inbound to Pineville is not the only boost coming from HHS; 25 Advanced Life Support Ambulances for patient transfer will also arrive in the Tar Heel State on Thursday, making for a total of 50 ambulances so far since Jan. 4, 2022.
Of the 25 new ambulances, seven will head to Mecklenburg County and two to Rutherford County. The ambulances also include their own staffing.
"We continue to find and deploy every available resource to deal with this surge of COVID-19 from the Omicron variant," Susan Kansagra, Senior Deputy Director for the NC Division of Public Health, said. "Our hospitals continue to deal with near-record levels of patients, and this federal support is one of many levers we are using to meet demand."
NCDHHS promises they've remained in contact with hospitals statewide along with federal partners. Assessment for needs are ongoing as they arise.