November 18, 2021
Incident Command #209: Federal Medical Strike Team Coming to CentraCare
CentraCare will be receiving help from the federal government to care for critically-ill patients in the communities we serve. Minnesota is now the fastest growing hot spot in the country for COVID-19 based on numbers of cases per 100,000 people.
Gov. Tim Walz reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) indicating the significant challenges Minnesota is facing with the recent surge in COVID-19 cases. HHS is able to deploy a limited number of “strike teams” to travel to hospitals in need.
Minnesota health systems were invited to apply and on Tuesday, CentraCare’s application was assessed by HHS.
On Wednesday morning, CentraCare was notified that St. Cloud Hospital will receive a strike team, based on our needs. A team from the Department of Defense, consisting of 22 medical professionals include physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists, will integrate with CentraCare staff, to work side by side to help take care of our regions critically ill.
“On behalf of our staff and the people in our region who we serve, we are grateful for this support in a time of dire need,” said Dr. Ken Holmen, President and CEO of CentraCare. “We are grateful for these much-needed resources, and we look forward to integrating these professionals with our teams.”
The details of the strike team’s arrival and where they will assist CentraCare are being determined today. The hope is to create more capacity to allow us take care for more of the very sick patients who need care. EMS expands ALS COVID transfer availability and inpatient support.