COVID cases and hospitalizations are down. So, Monument Health in Rapid City is reducing its COVID unit. As a result, twin-sized beds the hospital no longer needs will go to West River families.
The Black Hills hospital system is donating about 90 beds. Workers load up mattresses that once lined largely overflown rooms.
“We have a lot of families who’ve got a lot of siblings who were previously sleeping on the floor.”
That’s Brianna Nelson, with Youth and Family Services. The group serves about 14,000 kids and families in 29 counties.
“This is a huge gift for kids who’ve maybe had to share beds—or didn’t have one—to have their very own beds,” Nelson says. “We’re very excited to get these to kids and families.”
Nelson says they picked up 75 beds earlier this month and they were gone in a day. As COVID cases continue to drop, Monument Health is emptying its virus unit back to space for future growth.
Jace Brock is with Monument Health. He says they are glad they did not have to fully utilize the space.
“Moving out of the dark cloud of the last year, I look at this as hopefully one of the many silver linings coming out of this pandemic,” Brock says.
The hospital plans to keep about 75 beds on hand for a possible COVID surge. The number of new COVID infections has steadily declined since mid-April as more South Dakotans receive their vaccinations.
