ODESSA, Texas — Medical Center Hospital's board held an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss some costly improvements.
With the need for nurses on the rise amid surging COVID-19 cases, the board approved $1.5 million for an incentive pay proposal to hire critical care nurses.
The board also approved the purchase of 40 new ventilators for the hospital. The total price of the ventilators is $1,491,520.
Six of the ventilators are for NICU patients while the other 34 are for adults.
MCH's current ventilators are around 15 years old and have been under heavy usage over the past 18 months. The new ones are anticipated to arrive within a week.
As of August 10, the hospital has 22 people on ventilators, with 52 patients total being treated for COVID-19.