âItâs dog food compared to human lifeâ: Inside a small-town manufacturer struggling with COVID-19 Arkansas Nonprofit News Network
January 29, 20213:44 pm DIAMOND PET FOOD: The Arkansas plant is one of five facilities operated by the company nationwide. Matt White
The Diamond Pet Food factory in Dumas runs around the clock. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, hundreds of workers process meat, grains and vegetables into dog kibble, bag the finished product and load it by the ton into semi-trailers awaiting pickup. Trucks rumble through the plantâs front gate day and night to haul Diamond products from this Arkansas Delta town to shelves across North America.
UAMS takes dramatic steps to manage onslaught of COVID hospitalizations
UAMS takes dramatic steps to manage onslaught of COVID hospitalizations Arkansas Nonprofit News Network OVERWHELMED: UAMS Medical Center in Little Rock. Matt White
As thousands more Arkansans test positive for COVID-19 each day and the number of available intensive care unit beds in the state’s hospitals dwindles, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is beginning the next phase of its surge plan.
In an email sent Wednesday morning to employees and students, UAMS leaders laid out dramatic new measures to manage the crisis, including a plan for ICU nurses at UAMS Medical Center to take on more patients than they would under normal circumstances.
Arkansasâs ICU beds run low as COVID-19 cases surge Arkansas Nonprofit News Network
December 23, 20204:29 pm MORE BEDS NEEDED: Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock is adding ICU beds in January and opening an alternate care site for COVID patients. Matt White
As COVID-19 spreads uncontrollably throughout Arkansas, the number of available intensive care unit beds is dwindling.
On Friday, Dec. 18, at 2 p.m., Arkansas hospitals had just 37 staffed ICU beds available statewide, the lowest figure recorded since the Arkansas Department of Health began tracking the number in daily reports. By Tuesday, it was up to 51, still a precipitous drop from recent weeks: The number of open beds fluctuated between 72 and 99 from Dec. 1 to Dec. 15.
As COVID-19 spreads uncontrollably throughout Arkansas, the number of available intensive care unit beds is dwindling.
At 2 p.m. Friday, December 18, Arkansas hospitals had just 37 staffed ICU beds available statewide, the lowest figure recorded since the Arkansas Department of Health began tracking the number in daily reports. By Tuesday, it was up to 51, still a precipitous drop from recent weeks: The number of open beds fluctuated between 72 and 99 from December 1 to December 15.
At times, some regions in the state have had only a handful of ICU beds available. A breakdown provided by the health department on Thursday, December 17, showed five of the stateâs seven regions had five or fewer ICU beds left. The 13-county North-Central Arkansas region had none at all.