Surge plans have been activated inside Valleywise hospital. That means adding beds and space to care for more patients as COVID-19 cases have grown exponentially over the five days.
“At this point, we’re lucky because we haven’t had to double up space yet, we haven’t had to put people in hallways, as you might have seen in New York City, that was being done,” said Dr. Dan Quan.
Dr. Quan is an emergency room physician inside Valleywise Hospital in Phoenix.
While it’s not like what we saw in New York, the hospital system, like all the others across the state, is preparing for the worst.
“Do you accommodate them in different areas of the hospital, yes, do you plan for those patients to go to different floors, do you allocate different space for those patients,” said Dr. Quan. “We’ve opened up areas of the hospital for COVID patients that typically are not normally for COVID patients,”
Cases in Arizona now top 66,000.
Banner Health, Dignity Health, Honor Health, and Valleywise hospital systems are all activating some form of their surge plans.
And they’ll probably need to, according to Honor Health, coronavirus cases at their hospitals have spiked by more than 400 percent in the last month.
The age of those getting sick has become a key focal point as well.
“Our heart is broken because he’s gone and he was so young,” said Lesslie Lopez.
Lesslie will soon lay to rest the love of her life.
Becilio Lopez, just 42, was a father of five who loved to laugh, adoringly harass his kids, and indulge in craft beer.
“It’s just such a terrible feeling knowing he was dying there by himself,” said Lesslie through tears.
In early June, he along with his entire family somehow contracted the virus.
It hit Becilio the worst.
Leslie urged him to go to the hospital as his symptoms only worsened.
“I kept telling him lets go, and he didn’t want to because I’m sure he was scared,” said Lesslie.
Becilio eventually gave in. Within days of being admitted, Doctors took drastic steps to heal his body, putting him on a ventilator.
The day Leslie dropped Becilio off at Honor Health hospital on Shea was the last time she saw him alive.
“He was our rock, he always worked so hard for us, he would work a lot of hours, just so we had everything we needed,” said Lesslie, who now must find a way to support her family.
They’re now left to pick up the pieces of a once fairy tale life left shattered. Urging anyone who will listen to do everything they can to stop the spread. And keep other families from the agony they feel now.
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