COLUMBUS, Ohio — Governor Mike DeWine has called for the deployment of an additional 1,250 members of the Ohio National Guard to assist with rising COVID-19 hospitalizations across the state.
Ohio health officials reported the highest day of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state since the start of the pandemic on Wednesday. Those hospitalizations are largely being driven by unvaccinated Ohioans, DeWine said.
Since June 1, data shows 35,962 people have been admitted to Ohio hospitals with COVID-19. Roughly 92.5% of those patients were unvaccinated, according to DeWine.
“The evidence is abundantly clear that this is the best way… the best way… to stay out of the hospitals,” said DeWine.
DeWine announced plans to deploy 1,050 National Guard members to hospitals throughout the state in mid-December. In an update Wednesday, he said he is asking an additional 1,250 members to deploy to assist with those efforts.
Mount Carmel East received help from some of those members on Tuesday. Prior to then, the National Guard had only been deployed to northern Ohio hospitals, where COVID-19 hospitalizations were roughly three times higher than in central Ohio as of last week.
Maj. General John C. Harris, adjunct general with the Ohio National Guard, says there are currently more than 460 members deployed in the Cleveland area alone, assisting with a variety of tasks. Harris said roughly 100 people are currently assisting Columbus hospitals.
Harris said the National Guard assesses hospital numbers daily and can shift resources as necessary. The main goal is to ease strain on larger hospitals, in turn expanding capacity.
Jennifer Hollis, a critical care nurse, can attest to capacity issues currently being seen at Riverside Methodist Hospital.
“Our beds are full,” said Hollis. “There’s nowhere else to go.”
Hollis said she and the other nurses live in constant fear of potentially missing a patient who needs their help because of the overwhelming amount of people filling the hospital.
"The National Guard has been indispensable," said Dr. Robert Wylie, chief medical operations officer at the Cleveland Clinic. Wylie said, since arriving at the Cleveland Clinic, guard members have helped with delivering food, transporting patients and other tasks necessary to keep the hospital functioning.
Wylie said the one thing the public can do to help is to get vaccinated.
"Being vaccinated not only protects you; it's going to protect the people you care about," said Department of Health Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff.
You can watch Wednesday's briefing in the player below: