HARRIS — On Monday, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order requiring all hospitals to increase capacity by a minimum of 50 percent, with a goal of increasing capacity by 100 percent. The Greater Hudson Valley Health System, which Catskill Regional Medical Center (CRMC) is a part of, has answered the call by adjusting their surge plans which have been submitted to the state.

“Orange Regional Medical Center and CRMC are following the NYSDOH instructions as required and adjusting our existing surge plans to increase bed capacity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rob Lee, Executive Director of Public Relations/Marketing at the Greater Hudson Valley Health System.

“The plan would be to add 185 beds at ORMC and 45 beds at CRMC. Some options include adding beds to pre-surgical areas and existing hospital patient units. The plans include identifying what resources are needed to operationalize these extra beds. The 50 percent increase goal is based on the number of staffed beds pre-COVID-19, not certified beds.”

And that's not the only steps they've taken.

“We've reduced -- to the greatest extent possible -- all elective procedures and that's given us the ability to redeploy staff from some of those departments to care for COVID-19 patients,” Catskill Regional Medical Center CEO Jonathan Schiller said. “We've also severely restricted visitation to help keep patients and staff as safe as possible. And that of course is a temporary measure until this is resolved.”

Schiller notes that CRMC has been working seamlessly with Sullivan County Public Health, Sullivan County Office of Emergency Management and all first responsers and EMS providers. He also praised the CRMC staff for how brave and great they've been.

A big topic with COVID-19 nationwide is the need for ventalaters. Schiller said, “While every hospital is asking for more, we have enough to care for our community.”