Tribe reports scramble for hospital beds in South Dakota
In this March 18, 2020 file photo, Kim Malsam-Rysdon, Secretary of Health for the State of South Dakota, addresses the media during a press conference accompanied by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, left, at Monument Health in Rapid City, S.D.[AP/ Jeff Easton, Rapid City Journal]
A small hospital serving the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has sent two coronavirus patients to an out-of-state hospital in recent days, even as South Dakota’s top health officials insist the state has plenty of hospital capacity for COVID-19 patients.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Health Department reports that it sought to transfer COVID-19 patients to better-equipped hospitals in the state. But it heard from 14 hospitals that they were diverting COVID-19 patients.
The South Dakota Department of Health reports that the state’s hospital capacity remains in good shape and hospital diversions are a regular occurrence.
The two patients were sent to Burnsville, Minnesota.
KSTP’s complete COVID-19 coverage