Prisma sends ventilators, PPE to KershawHealth

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As the count of COVID-19 cases surged in Kershaw County in early March, Prisma Health sent five ventilators to patients in critical condition at Camden’s KershawHealth hospital.

Prisma also met KershawHealth’s needs for personal protective equipment and testing kits early on during the crisis until the Camden-based hospital received new shipments of supplies, according to a  news release.

“We are proud to serve as a regional partner to help ensure that critical needs are being addressed and resources are shared wherever possible,” Dr. Stephen Shelton, COVID-19 incident commander at Prisma Health-Midlands, said in the release. “There are quite a few models of ventilators, and in our larger health care system, we were able to locate the exact models of ventilators that KershawHealth’s critical care teams were already trained to use.”

The five ventilators will be returned to Prisma’s Tuomey Hospital in Sumter after COVID-19 cases wane at KershawHealth, according to the release. Both Prisma Health and KershawHealth are members of the Midlands Healthcare Coalition, one of four regional healthcare emergency coordination groups in South Carolina.

Prisma Health and KershawHealth are merging under Prisma Health’s acquisition of the Camden health care system announced in early March.

“Our collaboration with Prisma Health is longstanding,” Dr. Tallulah Holmstrom, chief medical officer at KershawHealth, said in the release. “Patients reap the benefits when their community hospital has a cooperative relationship for services such as extended lab support for hospital bloodwork. We also benefit from Prisma Health’s recent launch of in-house testing for COVID-19. Now, instead of waiting days or a week for inpatient results, we are receiving their results in hours. When we work together, we can better serve our patients and communities, especially as we face this public health crisis.”