Another virus surge brings more misery to Louisiana hospital

By SARAH BLAKE MORGAN
Associated Press

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A hospital in northwestern Louisiana thought the COVID-19 pandemic was letting up. Then came the ongoing surge caused by the delta variant. Nurses at Willis-Knighton Medical Center in Shreveport say they are overwhelmed and exhausted. Melinda Hunt gets up before dawn for her shift six or seven days a week and watches a Disney movie as she gets ready. But that escape ends when she walks through the doors. The COVID-19 patients in the hospital could be counted in single digits in July. Now there are over 100. Nursing Coordinator Beth Springer has been a nurse for 20 years and says she has never seen so much sadness.