EXCLUSIVE: Inside look at COVID-19 surge unit at San Jose's Good Samaritan Hospital

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ByChris Nguyen KGO logo
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: Inside COVID-19 surge unit at San Jose hospital
A new analysis from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington predicts daily COVID-19 deaths will peak in mid-April in California. ABC7 News was granted exclusive access inside San Jose's Good Samaritan Hospital.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A new analysis from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington predicts daily COVID-19 deaths will peak in mid-April in California.

ABC7 News was granted exclusive access inside San Jose's Good Samaritan Hospital as healthcare professionals brace for the surge.

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"We've been planning for this since January 28th when we had our first patient," said Chief Nursing Officer Mark Brown. "This has been allowing us for two months to perfect those plans, make sure we have everything in place and ready so that we can care for the patients coming through here."

In recent weeks, the hospital has converted multiple floors that were typically reserved for surgery recovery, to specifically care for COVID-19 patients. Each room in those areas is equipped with a HEPA filter that changes the air every hour similar to that of a negative pressure environment which helps with preventing cross-contamination.

Outside each room is a full stock of personal protective equipment. The hospital has also made plans for "spotters" to help healthcare professionals get in and out of their gear.

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Brown added, "They can feel safe when they go home, that they're not exposing any of their family members or loved ones to anything that they might come into contact around here."

This hospital says it isn't take any chances when it comes to patient and provider safety.

"We're grateful for everything that everybody's doing with the social distancing and the stay-at-home orders because that gives us a chance to be able to care for our patients properly," said Brown.

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