Phoebe North’s newly built ICU unit is ready and accepting COVID-19 patients

ALBANY, Ga. – Phoebe opened an additional COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU).

The ICU is located at Phoebe North, a hospital campus on Palmyra Road about 1.5 miles away from Phoebe’s main hospital in Albany.

It opened Monday, two days ahead of schedule.

“We have received outstanding support from Gov. Kemp and other state leaders.  Through our partnership with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA) we were able to secure the necessary staff and equipment to reopen the former ICU on our north campus in just a few weeks.  Typically, that work would be expected to take several months,” said Joe Austin, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital Chief Executive Officer.

The 12-bed ICU at Phoebe North began accepting patients Monday morning.

Later this week, two 15-bed general COVID-19 medical units will also open at Phoebe North.

One of those units can immediately transition to an ICU if more critical care capacity is needed.

“We will continue to expand our COVID-19 capacity at Phoebe North in phases over the next few weeks.  That includes a total of 101 beds inside the hospital and a 24-bed modular unit being constructed by GEMA in the back parking lot.  We hope we won’t need all those resources, but we will be well-prepared, if the COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen in Georgia,” Austin said.