Nurses from the joint replacement unit at Flagstaff (Ariz.) Medical Center are moving to treat COVID-19 patients, reports the Arizona Daily Sun.
The orthopedic department has been dormant since the hospital suspended all elective surgeries, but it may now use it to treat COVID-19 patients as the hospital reached its critical care capacity on March 30.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey's March 26 executive order requires hospitals to increase their bed capacity by 50 percent by April 24, which would boost FMC's total beds from 264 to 396.
The hospital has been using 15,000 isolation gowns, 4,200 respirators and 35,000 surgical masks each week, Derek Feuquay, CMO of the hospital, told the Arizona Daily Sun.
As of 11 a.m. CDT April 1, 1,289 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Arizona, with 24 deaths.