Phoenix mayor: Abrazo Health, Maricopa County morgues seeking backup
The mayor of Phoenix said on Friday an Abrazo health location may be getting refrigerated trucks because its morgue is at capacity, according to an ABC15 report.
In addition, the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s office is near capacity as Arizona continues to cope with a surge of Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
On Friday, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported the state’s coronavirus case count at 116,892, with 2,082 deaths. That included 4,221 new cases on Friday and 44 new reported deaths.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego told ABC15 on Friday morning the problem at Abrazo is “specific to one area” and that the county is looking at what can be done.
A statement from Gallego’s office later on Friday said the Maricopa County Unified Command Center reported the county medical examiner office’s morgue is at 97% capacity and is working to secure a contract for refrigerator trucks.
Despite Gallego's statement, Abrazo Health issued its own statement earlier in the day saying it had sufficient capacity.
"Abrazo hospitals currently have adequate morgue space," the statement said. "The state has requested that hospitals implement their emergency plans. Part of activating our plan includes the ability to handle overflow morgue capacity if needed. Abrazo has taken a proactive approach by ordering refrigerated storage in the event it may be needed during a surge of COVID patients. At this point it is not needed. We do agree with the Mayor’s points around promoting awareness around masking, continuing to practice social distancing and seeking medical care in the event of an emergency need."
https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2020/07/10/phoenix-mayor-abrazo-nearly-out-of-morgue-space.html