“We are pleased to welcome national disaster medical professionals to partner with our teams and support the ongoing surge of patients we are experiencing,” Stephanie Manson, chief operating officer at Our Lady of the Lake, said in the statement.
“With their presence, we are able to admit patients faster, open an additional intensive care unit and provide assistance to our existing Covid-19 units.”
According to at Our Lady of the Lake spokesperson Ryan Cross, the DMAT team consists of two physicians, three mid-level providers, seven nurses, 11 paramedics, one respiratory therapist, two pharmacists, one mental health specialist and six administrative support specialists.
“Their team will be here for one month and will allow us to open six additional [Covid-19] ICU beds and provide clinical assistance to our existing [Covid-19] units,” Cross said in an email.
Cross said the hospital sent requests to the state and federal government for staff.
The hospital has requested 106 registered nurses, 17 certified nursing assistants, 17 clerical staff and 17 respiratory therapists from the state, Cross said.
The state’s seven-day death rate per 100,000 people is 1.7, the third-highest in the nation, with Nevada being the highest and Arkansas in second, according to data published Friday.
Over the past week, Louisiana had 3.8% of total US Covid-19 cases despite having only 1.4% of the national population, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
CNN’s Aya Elamroussi contributed to this report.