Transcription:
As we get closer to this anticipated peak, the governor called on a medical staffing company to help prepare for it. Channel two is Dave Huddleston now live in Buckhead on this, and Dave, they're lining up hundreds of doctors ready to jump in and help if need be...
The hospitals like Piedmont already have their staff, but what do they do if their staff comes down with the Corona virus? With a company's president at Toby, He's got thousands of healthcare workers ready to step in and help. In fact, they're doing it right now.:
-"We've got three ICUs two of them makeshift guys to use and they're all full."
Doctor Kirby is an infectious disease and critical care doctor from Indiana. But he's in Albany, Georgia working at a hospital with Covid-19 patients.
-"These patients are some of the sickest I've ever taken care of in my career. Uh, I trained at Mayo clinic and it's hard to recall any patients that were sick as the patients I've seen here at Albany."
Dr Schleifer works for a Georgia medical staffing company called Jackson Healthcare. They have more than 10,000 health professionals they can call on to help across the country.
-"We're working through Jackson healthcare."
Governor Brian Kemp is leaning on them to help in Georgia...
-"To bring roughly 570 additional. Healthcare professionals to key systems across our state.
-"This is why we exist."
Shane Jackson is president. He told me they're in New York city, Albany and here, and Metro Atlanta to help hospitals with critical staff support.
-"They're dealing not only with an increase in the number of these critical patients. critical care patients that they have, but also they are having where a lot of their staff it's either getting sick or many more of them are being quarantined because they have been exposed."
Dr Schleifer says it's tough work, but he's glad he can help. You know, I agreed to come down here and help as much as I can.
Shane Jackson says the majority of the 570 medical professionals will work around the state. About 200 of them here in Metro Atlanta, reporting live from Buckhead, Dave Huddleston, channel two action news.