Hospitals around the country are buckling under an overwhelming number of patients with COVID-19. Doctors and nurses are stretched thin due to the recent surge, and ICU beds are in short supply. That shortage had tragic consequences in Bellville, Texas, where Army veteran Daniel Wilkinson died because he couldn’t get the medical treatment he needed in time.
According to CBS News, Wilkinson had gallstone pancreatitis, a treatable medical condition that the Bellville Medical Center, down the street from his home, is not equipped to treat (watch above). Dr. Hasan Kakli, an emergency Physician at Bellville, said calls were made to other hospitals in Texas and nearby states to find a facility that could treat Wilkinson. Dr. Kakli said they found specialists who could treat him, but no hospital contacted had an ICU bed available, because they were all taken by COVID patients.
An available bed was finally found at the VA hospital in Houston, but by then it was too late to do the procedure. Around 24 hours after he first walked into the emergency room, Wilkinson died.
Some blame Texas Governor Greg Abbott and his policies blocking mask and vaccine mandates for making matters worse, at a time when state hospitals are being inundated with COVID patients.
Dear @GovAbbott:
This Texan—a 46-year-old US military veteran of Afghanistan—died from a GALL STONE because Texas hospitals had no available ICU beds due to being overwhelmed with COVID patients.
Danny died within 24 hours of a treatable condition.
YOUR NEGLIGENCE KILLED HIM. https://t.co/0CWjSqL606
— Leah McElrath (@leahmcelrath) August 27, 2021
All thanks to Abbott.
Texas health officials warn of full ICUs as state grapples with worsening Covid-19 surgehttps://t.co/1P0UXSPf02
— glenda bauerle (@gkb59) August 20, 2021
Wilkinson’s mother said her son served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and came back with a Purple Heart.
According to CBS correspondent David Begnaud, there are 102 people waiting for an ICU bed to open up in Houston alone. He said he asked Houston’s county executive about opening up a field hospital to create the space. He was told, it’s not a question of lack of beds, but that area hospitals don’t have enough nurses to handle the crush of patients they’re seeing.