Flagstaff Medical Center has beds to meet the care of those who need it. That’s the message from FMC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Derek Feuquay Wednesday. Last Friday, Coconino County Health and Human Services released its weekly COVID-19 figures. Included in its schools report was a chart that stated the hospital was down to zero beds. Flagstaff Mayor Paul Deasy took to social media and said “our hospital is full. We are at a critical point.” Dr. Feuquay says that wasn’t necessarily the case. He says “I get what he was doing because he was putting that up to say, “oh my, look how dire the situation is you have to go out and get vaccinated,” which I’m totally supportive of.” Feuquay adds; “but the risk of doing that is, probably unintentionally, people start to think, oh my gosh the hospital is overwhelmed, we’re in a lot of trouble.” As for the posted chart saying the hospital was out of beds, Feuquay says when the county took a bed count at a specific time on Friday, they had no beds available for the staffing they had at the time, but that specific reading was just “one moment in time.” He says within two hours they freed up to 14 beds for patients. So in regards to going to the hospital in a time of need, Feuquay says if you or a family member is sick, “come to the ER. We will triage you. We may not see you as fast as we did two years ago, but we will put you in order based on how sick you are and we will take care of you.” He adds, “if you need a bed, we’re going to find you a bed.” As of Wednesday morning, FMC had 234 patients, 39 were COVID positive, with 36 patients receiving critical care.
Dr. Feuquay says come to the ER if you’re sick. To hear the quote, click here:
Dr. Feuquay talks about the mayor’s social media post on Friday. To hear it, click here:
