ATLANTA — With Wellstar's Atlanta Medical Center diverting Ambulances and the closure of the hospital approaching, nurses at other area hospitals said they are already feeling the strain.
"We were just now processing the November 1st closure and now we're having a process that even sooner. And so we're seeing a lot of the trickle-down effect in the other hospitals of having to take more patients when we already don't have room for them," Ashley Blackmon said.
In addition to being a nurse practitioner, Blackmon serves as the president of the United Advanced Practice Registered Nurses of Georgia. She said nurses she's been in contact with were already concerned about staffing rations when it was announced AMC would close.
Now, she says the addition of hospital beds and increasing number of patients needing emergency care are causing other hospitals to divert as well.
"They said each unit is like having to scoop beds over so that they can make room for new beds," she said. "So each unit is adding one or two more beds, but that's still not answering a staffing question."
The Georgia Coordinating Center showed emergency departments at Grady Memorial Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, and Piedmont Atlanta Hospital were severely overcrowded during the day on Wednesday.
Piedmont Healthcare sent the following statement to 11Alive:
"Piedmont Atlanta stands ready to serve our community during this time of transition. We are continuously assessing our capacity to ensure appropriate resources and increasing clinical staffing to continue providing high-quality care."
Blackmon said even with the preparation, the issue extends beyond patients.
"The majority of health care workers are already burned out and are already considering leaving the profession," she said.