Major hospitals in WNC have 113 ventilators between them

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — President Donald Trump's message Friday that major corporations would start manufacturing life-saving ventilators was welcome news to mountain health and hospital leaders who have all acknowledged concerns about low supplies. News 13 counted a total of 113 ventilators across the area.

Mission Health reports the hospital system has 84, Pardee reports 14 and AdventHealth reports having 15 ventilators in-house.

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Buncombe County Commission chairman Brownie Newman said he’s particularly worried about the increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients who could be coming into Mission in coming weeks.

“There was no indication they (Mission) have a line of sight on any meaningful increase in that number in the near future,” Newman said.

Newman said he’s had conversations with Mission leaders, including Dr. William Hathaway, who said the hospital system hoped to get more of the machines that are used to support patients with severe respiratory conditions that impact the lungs.

“If patient numbers go above that, there may not be enough for all the people who are really sick,” Newman said.

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Newman said the lack of ventilators is the main reason Buncombe County commissioners moved forward with the Stay Home, Stay Safe declaration.

“We are taking all the steps we can to slow the spread of this illness, so we don’t exceed the capacity at Mission Hospital, which is limited,” Newman said.

A spokeswoman for Mission said in a statement the hospital is continuing to secure a substantial number of additional ventilators. However, the statement did not say how many additional ventilators had been secured or if there was a committed delivery date.