Eskenazi Prepares For Surge In Indianapolis COVID-19 Cases

Marion County has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the state -- with nearly 1,000 positive COVID-19 tests in Indianapolis as of Tuesday. Hospitals have been preparing to "scale up" for months.

Like many Indianapolis hospitals, Eskenazi Health shifted staff, ordered more machines and supplies and is moving patients to telehealth.

Eskenazi Chief of Internal Medicine Graham Carlos says they’ve been in contact and monitoring what’s happening in other cities that got hit by the pandemic earlier.

"That helped get us in gear to order more supplies such as IV pumps and tubing, ordering more ventilators, ordering more PPE early," says Carlos. 

He says the new hospital building, that opened in 2015, has really helped.

"When the hospital was built, it was built with a vision that we could adapt every room in the hospital to be critical care if we needed it," says Carlos. 

There are over 200 ICU beds. The building can also cycle the air to help clear out the virus.