ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp announced a partnership with Piedmont Healthcare late Tuesday to provide additional hospital bed capacity for treating Georgia’s growing number of coronavirus patients.
Patients will be cared for at Piedmont Atlanta’s new Marcus Tower, which opened almost four months ahead of schedule.
The new partnership will involve an initial use of 62 beds with the capability of adding more based on demand.
Kemp joined Piedmont President and CEO Kevin Brown for Tuesday’s announcement.
“I’m very grateful to Kevin Brown and the entire Piedmont Healthcare team for their willingness to partner with the state of Georgia and provide this critical resource to patients and surrounding hospitals,” Kemp said. “These hospital beds will provide additional surge capacity for health-care facilities in metro Atlanta and ensure COVID-19 patients receive the essential care they need.”
The state will leverage existing medical staffing contracts to provide necessary personnel to Piedmont Atlanta. The facility is expected to be fully operational within the next week.
The partnership with Piedmont is the second step the governor has taken in recent days to ramp up hospital-bed capacity with COVID-19 cases on the rise in Georgia. Last Friday, Kemp announced the planned reopening of the Georgia World Congress Center for standby hospital beds and medical equipment.
Patients will be cared for at Piedmont Atlanta’s new Marcus Tower, which opened almost four months ahead of schedule.
The new partnership will involve an initial use of 62 beds with the capability of adding more based on demand.
Kemp joined Piedmont President and CEO Kevin Brown for Tuesday’s announcement.
“I’m very grateful to Kevin Brown and the entire Piedmont Healthcare team for their willingness to partner with the state of Georgia and provide this critical resource to patients and surrounding hospitals,” Kemp said. “These hospital beds will provide additional surge capacity for health-care facilities in metro Atlanta and ensure COVID-19 patients receive the essential care they need.”
The state will leverage existing medical staffing contracts to provide necessary personnel to Piedmont Atlanta. The facility is expected to be fully operational within the next week.
The partnership with Piedmont is the second step the governor has taken in recent days to ramp up hospital-bed capacity with COVID-19 cases on the rise in Georgia. Last Friday, Kemp announced the planned reopening of the Georgia World Congress Center for standby hospital beds and medical equipment.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 123,964 Georgians had contracted coronavirus, while the virus had killed 3,054.
