A pastor in La Porte, Texas, has been forced to stay at the hospital for a long time because of a shortage of home oxygen equipment.
Pastor, Windell Gill, was diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia and was admitted to the Houston Methodist-Clear Lake Hospital. Now he has been there for 10 days. He was supposed to be discharged Thursday morning as per his doctor’s recommendation. However, plans changed because of the shortage in home oxygen equipment. The equipment is necessary for him to take home to be discharged and continue monitoring his health from his residence.
According to an ABC 13 report, when he asked why he hasn’t been discharged yet by Friday evening, a nurse told him at least seven patients are waiting for home oxygen equipment, too.
Gill said in a statement that the issue needs to be resolved immediately. He shared, “I’m sure there are others who need this room, who need this kind of care. If we’re concerned about making room for patients with desperate needs, this needs to be addressed head-on.” Gill hopes he can go home soon so he can serve his congregation again. He pointed out that he is feeling much better now than how he was ten days ago.
Houston Methodist also released a statement saying that they do not know the problem regarding the supply for their home oxygen equipment as they are only sourcing these from third-party companies. He noted that they could not speculate on the issue, but they are assuring their patients they will all be taken care of as long as they remain in the hospital.
One of the third-party companies is Apria Healthcare. Authorities said there is a shortage of home oxygen equipment because of the recent increase of cases in the area. They have already secured more supplies and will deploy them to Texas and other states immediately.
