Health officials react to coronavirus death, financial strain in daily update
JACKSON, Tenn. — “I have some sad news to announce,” Kim Tedford, director of Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department, said Friday. “We’ve had our first death related to COVID-19.”
Tedford says that patient had several underlying conditions and was in the hospital since April 1.
“I just want to extend our sympathy from the health department to the family of this individual,” Tedford said.
“On behalf of our entire organization, we are very sorry about that, and I hope people take it very seriously,” said Amy Garner, chief compliance and communications, officer for West Tennessee Healthcare.
“It’s easy to get wrapped up in the cold data,” Jackson Mayor Scott Conger said. “But this is a human life. These are human lives we’re talking about. One was lost because of this virus.”
West Tennessee Healthcare is also feeling the financial strain of COVID-19.
“We hear all the time about the heroes that are working in the hospitals, and how full hospitals are. This has really taken its toll on hospitals, not just here in West Tennessee, but all across the state and all across the country,” Garner said.
Since March, they’ve seen a decline in income, and they’ve had to close several facilities including the Lift Wellness Center, West Tennessee Surgery Center and Skyline Endoscopy Center.
“We’ve had to take steps like furloughing employees,” Garner said. “We’ve redeployed employees to other departments. You’ve heard me talk about employees that were sewing masks instead of providing therapy or doing their normal jobs.”
The hospital did not say how many employees were furloughed or for how long, but CEO James Ross ensures the public that West Tennessee Healthcare will still be there for them.
“West Tennessee Healthcare is still operating and functioning with employees and dedicated staff to take care of whatever patients that need care, and we’ll always be there for our community,” Ross said.
Click here to visit our COVID-19 page for the latest updates.
