A team of federal health care providers is helping to address a staffing shortage in Billings as Yellowstone County continues to lead the state in the number of active COVID-19 cases.
Eight pharmacists in the U.S. Public Health Service and about 20 Navy doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists arrived at Billings Clinic this week to bolster staff there. Billings Clinic says they’ll stay about a month to help with inoculating patients against COVID-19, distributing monoclonal antibody treatment, and providing other patient care.
Around 2,000 Yellowstone County residents currently have COVID-19, or about 25% of active cases statewide according to state data. There have been more than 400 deaths in the county since the pandemic began. About 360 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide.
Billings Clinic accounts for about 59 of the hospitalizations, with 21 individuals in the ICU and 10 on ventilators.
