The Christian non-profit Samaritan's Purse has partnered with local medical officials to launch a field hospital to support Jackson, Mississippi.
The non-profit decided to open a 32-bed field hospital that will collaborate and cooperate with the University of Mississippi Medical Center to treat the sickest COVID-19 patients. "We are humbled to be here, we love you, and we are praying for you," announces Edward Graham, son of Franklin Graham and the assistant to the vice president for Samaritan's Purse. "Our people do this because they want to love their neighbor." The field clinic opened at noon on August 18 and has been actively serving the local community ever since.
Mississippi has been a hotbed for COVID-19 infections over the last few months. The state is among the least vaccinated in the United States, with only 36 percent fully vaccinated. It currently has more patients in the ICU due to COVID-19 infections than at any other time during the pandemic.
This is the sixth COVID-related field hospital opened by Samaritan's Purse to date. Samaritan's Purse has previously installed treatment unites in New York, North Carolina, Italy, and the Bahamas and will do more. And the impact has been noticeable. "With this help, we have a little bit of light," said Dr. Thomas Dobbs, state health officer with the Mississippi State Department of Health.
