El Paso hospitals getting Covid patients from across Texas

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso hospitals have started receiving transfers of Covid-19 infected patients from other cities across Texas where hospitals are being overwhelmed by a new wave of coronavirus cases - many tied to the highly-contagious Delta variant.

The Hospitals of Providence in El Paso confirmed to ABC-7 on Wednesday that its facilities systemwide are accommodating Covid patient overflow from elsewhere across the Lone Star state.

"The Hospitals of Providence has received transfers from communities currently experiencing an increase in Covid-19 hospitalizations. All transfers are reviewed on a case-by-case basis based on acuity and capacity," said THOP spokeswoman Monique Poessiger.

She indicated that even with the transfers, THOP still has the capacity necessary to provide needed hospital care to El Pasoans.

"We are closely monitoring all hospitalizations and will make the necessary adjustments to be able to respond to an increase in Covid hospitalizations, as we begin to see a rise in our community," she explained.

With the Delta variant spreading, Texas Covid-19 hospitalizations have increased 400% in the last month. But El Paso hospital capacity remains better than the rest of the state amid this latest Covid wave.

"Compared to the rest of Texas, we're really doing great here in El Paso," Dr. Edward Michaelson of Texas Tech University Health Science of El Paso, and an emergency physician with University Medical Center, told ABC-7 on Tuesday, when the number of Covid patients being cared for in all of the city's hospitals amounted to less than 90.

And while Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that Texas will deploy 2,500 medical workers across the state to help address the strain on hospital staffing, Poessiger said THOP wouldn't be receiving any of that additional state staffing.

ABC-7 inquired with other El Paso hospitals as to whether they were also receiving Covid patient transfers from out-of-town.

A representative for Las Palmas and Del Sol indicated those two medical centers had received some Covid patients but added they had "not seen a significant increase in transfers, nor have our hospitals seen a significant increase in hospitalizations, but we have seen cases of the highly contagious delta variant at our hospitals."

Officials with University Medical Center of El Paso didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, but a source told ABC-7 that UMC was also receiving Covid transfers from elsewhere in Texas.