COLUMBIA, S.C. — Hospitals have seen it all in the fight against the coronavirus, from caring for patients and experiencing surges to now providing the vaccine.
John Williams with the South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) discussed what healthcare providers now need most, a year into the pandemic.
"Last March we were faced with something we never seen before," Williams said.
2020 was a year no one was ready for and a year no one could prepare for.
“When you look at where we were then to where we are now, we are much more knowledgeable, we are getting science-based information on how to prepare, how to mitigate and slow down the spread of the coronavirus," Williams said.
Williams is the Director of Emergency Preparedness for the SCHA and he said hospitals are in a much better place now than a year ago.
“We have a vaccine today unlike last March, our hospitals are truly in a different place," Williams said. "Surge is manageable it’s down tremendously from where it was.”
While Williams confirmed hospitals always plan for surges, there was no way to prepare for the staff shortages often caused by this virus.
“That was a wrench in this whole process that affected everyone in the United States, so work force will continue to be an issue until we get more of our future nurses and docs and so forth to graduate," Williams said.
There are still traveling health care workers in the Palmetto State, but the demand is not like it was during the early months. Williams explains hospitals really do need more staff.
“We always need nurses we need all clinicians every position could be filled in the hospital," Williams said.
Currently, the biggest need is vaccines.
For Williams, as the end of the pandemic nears, he won’t forget how critical health care workers were to help us heal.
“Our health care workers are resilient," Williams said. "We’ve thrown so much at them to be able to depend on them and not once did they drop the ball. If you know a healthcare worker, if you are by a healthcare worker at a gas station or grocery store, just tell them thank you. They really deserve all the credit.”
Williams said the SCHA is also working on getting the importance out of getting the vaccine and reminding people not to let our guard down too soon.
