PORTLAND, Maine —
The nurses' union at Maine Medical Center will hold a press conference at noon on Wednesday to address conditions for employees inside the hospital during the current COVID-19 surge in the state.
Individual nurses representing various departments will speak in Portland, followed by a question and answer period, according to a release from the nurses' union.
NEWS CENTER Maine will stream the press conference live on our website, Facebook, YouTube, and mobile app.
Nurses at Maine Medical Center are represented by the union Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC). In May, they voted 1,001 to 750 to unionize for the first time.
Last week, leaders from Northern Light Health, MaineHealth, Central Maine Healthcare, and MaineGeneral Health came together for a press conference to discuss the strain hospitals are experiencing amidst a rise in cases of the COVID-19 delta variant in the state.
Hospitals in Maine are feeling the stress of finding enough beds for patients, not all of whom have COVID. But as more COVID patients need treatment, it becomes more difficult to find space for all patients, COVID or non-COVID.
“We have almost as many patients in ICU beds across the state of Maine currently as we did during our peak last January," Maine Medical Center's Dr. Joan Boomsma said. "But it’s not just our ICUs. Our hospital beds are full. I think it’s a combination of seasonal increases, along with the increased volumes of COVID patients and staffing shortages.”
As of Wednesday, 150 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Maine. Of those 150 people, 66 are being treated in an intensive care unit (ICU) and 26 are on a ventilator. Of the 326 total ICU beds across the state, 49 are available, according to the Maine CDC.
Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah tweeted Wednesday that COVID-19 vaccination rates in Maine are up 30.3% over the past two weeks.
