BEAUMONT, Texas — Hospitalizations in Jefferson County have finally started to decline.
Some say the regional infusion has helped, but it had to close Wednesday when workers ran out of treatment drugs.
The Southeast Texas Regional Infusion Center has been open since August, serving more than 7,000 patients with lifesaving monoclonal antibodies.
"If you think about it, each infusion we've done could have been somebody in the hospital," said Jefferson County Emergency Management coordinator Mike White.
But the center has also faced its fair share of difficulties like nursing and drug shortages.
"We have 600 people on the list right now that are eligible who have been screened, that are eligible to receive an infusion, and right now we have a hundred and ninety-two doses coming in tomorrow," White said.
Right now, the center can only give a certain type of treatment.
Recently, the FDA banned two other medicines that have helped patients in the past.
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And that new medicine is in short supply. It has caused the center to have to screen patients.
"I am a big proponent of treating all that we can, but when supply is limited we absolutely have to reduce this down to those who are most at risk and treat them first," said Todd Senters, vice president of operations at Baptist Hospitals.
Priority is based on things like age, weight, underlying conditions, and whether someone is immunocompromised.
Although supply has diminished and some people are being turned away, officials say the infusion center has still had a massive impact.
"It’s tremendous,” Senters said. “I don’t know if you can put a number or a value on what this particular treatment facility has meant for this community, because of the fact that all of our medical facilities were in a true crisis."
Officials say the plan is to keep the infusion center open as long as possible, but it all comes down to the supply of medicines they get from the federal government.