NATIONAL CITY, Calif. (KGTV) — A South Bay hospital is helping to care for an influx of coronavirus patients from neighboring Imperial County.
Paradise Valley Hospital, in National City, says they accepted 13 COVID-19 patients on Tuesday, after 24 total patients were taken to San Diego County hospitals from Imperial County. The county had seen a spike in overnight coronavirus admissions and had to divert some patients to the San Diego area, according to the hospital.
Imperial County hospitals have since ended their diversion of patients and is now accepting new COVID-19 admissions.
"As fellow Californians, it’s important that mutual aid be provided to communities in need," said National City Mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis. "This week’s effort on behalf of Paradise Valley Hospital to aid the Calexico community, after being contacted by the State of California, is praiseworthy. Even as they accepted patients from Calexico via helicopter, PVH leadership maintains that they still have enough bed space to address the needs of our National City residents and clarified that, as patients recover, they will be returned to their home communities."
According to the Associated Press, Imperial County has seen a spike in coronavirus cases this week, with virus deaths doubling to 18, hospitalizations up 30%, and confirmed infections increasing by 16% in the last two weeks.
Monday, El Centro Regional Medical Center — the largest hospital in the region — admitted 14 COVID-19 patients on Monday and had to stop admitting more, the AP reported.
The hospital's chief executive told the AP that they believed Americans living in the Mexican city of Mexicali, where cases have surged, were crossing the border for treatment.