Dixie Regional Hospital in St. George deploys second BLU-MED tent for COVID-19 preparedness

Dixie Regional Medical Center (DRMC) set up a second BLU-MED tent owned by the Utah Department of Health to extend preparedness efforts Wednesday as predictive models continue to forecast a potential surge in COVID-19 cases.

Agencies joining Dixie Regional’s maintenance team to arrange the tent, which is located easy of the emergency entrance just south of the ambulance bay, include Washington County, City of St. George Fire Department, New Harmony Fire Department, Colorado City/Hildale Fire Department, the State of Utah Wildland Fire Department and Gold Cross.

The second BLU-MED tent will likely add 25 medical/surgical beds to DRMC, according to officials.

The first BLU-MED tent, which was deployed on March 14, remains in place in case it is needed to extend the capacity of the emergency department. Both tents are part of preparedness efforts and other hospitals across Utah have set up similar tents. At this time, the tents at Dixie Regional are not in use.

DRMC officials said that due to community social-distancing and other efforts like reducing elective surgeries, patient volumes at the facilities remain low for this time of year.

Dixie’s surge planning includes collaborating with Intermountain Healthcare for resource allocation, facility optimization, staffing and equipment use, according to the press release.

“We are prepared to care for an increase of COVID-19 patients as well as patients with other healthcare needs. We are closely monitoring the progression of COVID-19 cases locally and across the Intermountain service area and coordinating related treatment efforts with the Southwest Utah Health Department, Utah Department of Health and the CDC,” the press release stated. “Although the future is unknown, we are planning for different scenarios and are well prepared.”

Story provided by our news partners at ABC 4 News.