Since Monday, the Tennessee National Guard has begun supporting six additional Tennessee hospitals as they fight the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the total support to 13 medical facilities across the state.
At the request of the Tennessee Department of Health and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, nearly 55 additional Soldiers and Airmen from the Tennessee National Guard began supporting hospital staff with medics and administrative personnel. Guardsmen can work in many types of hospital units and help with various administrative tasks as required by the individual hospital. This augmentation of National Guard staff to support hospitals is not impacting civilian health care roles but rather freeing up health care professionals to work more effectively and efficiently, said officials.
Additional medical centers receiving National Guard support this week are Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Blount Memorial Hospital in Maryville, Regional One Health Medical Center in Memphis, and Methodist Monoclonal Antibody Infusion Center in Memphis.
Currently, there are more than 155 Tennessee National Guardsmen supporting 13 medical centers statewide. There are an additional 425 Soldiers and Airmen supporting 58 Tennessee counties by assisting with COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, and administrative support to health care providers at county health departments.
Since March 2020, the Soldiers and Airmen of the Tennessee National Guard have been working alongside and supporting the Tennessee Department of Health, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, and various other state and local agencies to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Thousands of Tennessee Guardsmen have volunteered to help during the pandemic. Over the last 17 months, anywhere from 250-700 Guardsmen have been actively supporting the testing and vaccination efforts across the state. This has resulted in Tennessee Guardsmen supporting the testing of more than 930,000 Tennesseans and the vaccination of over 1 million.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the Tennessee National Guard is prepared and ready to support any request for assistance through TEMA.