Williamson Medical Center at less than 50% capacity for COVID-19 patients

The Williamson Medical Center in Franklin is "in a pretty good place" this week regarding the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations according to the hospital Chief Financial Officer Paul Bolin.

Speaking during the Oct. 12 meeting of the Williamson County Commission, Bolin responded to a question from Commissioner Gregg Lawrence about the number of COVID-19 patients the hospital was treating.

Bolin said that Williamson Medical Center was currently treating 22 patients for COVID-19, but that the hospital was well within its capacity for treating such patients.

"[Twenty-two] is a little higher than we've had in the past, but it's something we can manage," Bolin said. "We have adequate PPE (personal protective equipment) and staffing, and we're at less than 50% of our COVID capacity, so we're in a pretty good place."

While the latest figure is a notable increase from July's "new peak" of 14 active cases, Williamson Medical Center was at 70% COVID-19 patient capacity at that time. With increasing COVID-19 patient capacity and through the procurement of more PPE, hospital staff say the current situation is much more manageable.

As of Monday, Williamson County has 645 active cases of COVID-19. 

A total of 6,113 cases have been reported in the county since the outbreak, with 5,422 of those having recovered. Williamson County has also seen 46 deaths in total due to the virus.