United Memorial Medical Center forced to add more beds during COVID-19 surge

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- United Memorial Medical Center on the northwest side of Houston said they're having their own challenges addressing the fight against COVID-19.

UMMC's chief medical officer Dr. Joseph Varon said the number of COVID-19 patients is increasing so much that they have added an additional wing to its COVID-19 unit.

The new wing will be able to dedicate 80 beds to COVID-19 patients.

"We are all stressed out. We are working 20 hours a day. I mean, it's non-stop for the last 98 days," Varon said.

While the hospital has been hard at work, Varon said they're seeing more patients who are coming in sicker than the ones before.

"The people are waiting too long to come to the hospital. Many people don't want to come to the hospital because they think they're going to get COVID," said Varon.

In fact, some patients said they have had symptoms for weeks before going to the hospital for treatment.

"COVID is an illness that kills you by two different mechanisms, one is by a lot of inflammation, and the second is by a lot of clotting," he said.

Varon recommends you get tested if you have concerns that you may have the virus.

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