Singing River hospital emergency room deals with COVID surge
Cynthia Mullens stood in 95-degree heat outside of the Ocean Springs Hospital emergency room, her swollen feet laying atop a worn pair of sandals.
“Look at this!” she cried, pointing to a blister that covered about a fourth of her foot.
Mullen, who has lupus, had left the waiting room a few minutes earlier, upon learning a nearby mother-daughter duo were coughing because of COVID-19 diagnoses.
“That lady in the corner? I thought, oh my God, I’ve got to get out of here. I said I’m going outside. I mean this delta, you’re breathing the same air, I’m freaking out.”
The Ocean Springs resident was one of a few people waiting on a recent Tuesday afternoon outside of the ER, where the waiting room was filled with patients who were told they could wait as long as five hours for care — a short estimate compared to recent wait times
