LeConte Medical Center receives help from National Guard

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - LeConte Medical Center received help from four medics and 10 administrative staff from the National Guard COVID Taskforce on Friday, officials with the hospital tell WVLT News.

Tennessee is offering National Guard assistance to hospitals experiencing staffing issues due to a large influx of COVID-19 patients. President and chief administrative officer for the hospital Gaye Jolly spoke on the assistance, saying hospital staff is grateful for the help.

“We are extremely grateful for this additional support from our Tennessee National Guard,” Jolly said. “This is a critical time for hospitals all across our state and country, and we are imploring citizens who have not yet had the COVID vaccine to please get one as soon as possible.”

Covenant Health, which runs the hospital, offers a COVID-19 dashboard for tracking patients in the system. According to the dashboard, Covenant Health is currently treating 348 confirmed COVID-19 patients, 83 percent of which are unvaccinated.