CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Nearly 300 medical personnel that the State of Texas is paying to man hospitals in Nueces County are going to stick around a lot longer than anticipated, according to Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales.
Canales had asked the State to send 545 medical workers to our hospitals to try and deal with the COVID-19 patient surge. However, the State only sent 280 and were ready to pull them out by Sept. 30.
"They have answered our prayers," Canales said. "They also understand that a demobilization of the staff should occur when there’s no longer a need.”
Even though our COVID-19 numbers have improved lately, they’re still not great. That’s why Canales was happy when the State agreed to keep the extra medical staff at our hospitals because we are not out of the woods yet.
"The best news ever is that they have made a decision finally as of yesterday to keep that staff here post Sept. 30., because that was our first deadline," Canales said.
While the State has agreed to keep the medical workers on the job at our hospitals, Canales is still disappointed that many in the community aren’t doing their part to turn things around.
"If I know that only 50-percent of my community is vaccinated fully, then I know I’m 50-percent vulnerable, and that’s not good for overall health care," Canales said.
According to Canales, the simple solution is for everyone to finally get vaccinated.