Vasquez: In Starr County, some COVID patients will be sent away to die

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas - Physicians in Starr County’s only hospital will soon have to chose which COVID-19 patients they will treat and which ones will be left to die.That was the grim message from Starr County Health Authority Dr. Jose Vasquez. Interviewed by Dave Brown of Texas Standard, Vasquez said: “We are getting to the point where we are going to have to make tough decisions about who should be getting ventilatory support and a high level of care here or who do we believe is not going to be able to make it alive. So resources will have to be redirected for those that have better chances.”Starr County, with a population of about 61,000, has 1,432 confirmed coronavirus cases. Its only major medical facility, Starr County Memorial Hospital, cannot cope, said Vasquez.Vasquez said deciding who lives and dies is the hardest decision a physician will ever have to face.“We have to swear a duty to protect every life equally regardless, no discrimination. But here, it is just basically a matter of applying mass critical care guidelines and choosing between people who actually have a fighting chance to come alive of this significant intentness care procedures versus the ones who because they are so sick or aged or have chronic conditions, they are not going to have a chance so we will redirect those resources that have actually a chance to survive.”Texas Standard reporter Brown also interviewed Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell. Texas Standard is part of the National Public Radio network. Although the Rio Grande Valley does not have an NPR station, NPR programming is being provided on a digital streaming service by KEDT-FM of Corpus Christi. KEDT is media partner of the Rio Grande Guardian.Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.