The South Dakota National Guard is helping Rapid City-based Monument Health with COVID testing. The health system has also announced it will delay non-essential surgeries to maintain patient capacity.
Monument Health requested help with COVID 19 testing late last week. Nine Guard members are assisting the Rapid City-based health system take COVID samples at all its drive-through testing locations from Belle Fourche to Custer.
Monument Health says it has adequate supplies for increased testing. It says National Guard assistance will allow the system to test more patients and fully utilize its testing equipment.
Governor Kristi Noem says since the start of the pandemic, the state has worked with hospital systems to manage hospital capacity.
“Testing efforts help us to identify and isolate cases to slow the spread of the virus,” said Governor Noem. “This past week, I had conversations with all three South Dakota hospital systems and asked them what they needed as cases start to rise again. Monument asked for the National Guard to assist them in their testing efforts, and we are happy to help.”
The soldiers are activated under FEMA Title 32, meaning that their efforts will be federally funded.
Monument Health says it’s performed 2,856 COVID-19 PCR tests in the last week. Of those, 844 were positive for a positivity rate of 29.6 percent.
Emily Leech, Director of the Monument Health Laboratory Services, says testing volume in August was 115 percent higher than it was in July. Most of these patients are unvaccinated.
The number of COVID 19 patients in the Monument Health system has nearly doubled in just one week. The system is currently treating 110 patients. A month ago there were just five in the Black Hills area.
As cases declined in the spring following early vaccination efforts and before the rise in cases caused by the Delta variant, Monument Health downsized it’s COVID surge unit.
Dan Daly is a spokesperson with Monument Health. He says the system is rearranging resources to respond to demand.
“We’re doing a number of things, including converting some of our patient rooms for intensive care patients,” Daly says. “We’re shifting some staff around to help at the hospitals.”
Daly says the system is considering other measures and will adjust its operations.