Prisma sends ventilators, PPE to KershawHealth.

As the count of COVID-19 cases surged in Kershaw County in early March, Prisma Health sent five ventilators to patients in critical condition at Camden's KershawHealth hospital.

Prisma also met KershawHealth's needs for personal protective equipment and testing kits early on during the crisis until the Camden-based hospital received new shipments of supplies, according to a news release.

"We are proud to serve as a regional partner to help ensure that critical needs are being addressed and resources are shared wherever possible," Dr. Stephen Shelton, COVID-19 incident commander at Prisma Health-Midlands, said in the release. "There are quite a few models of ventilators and in our larger health care system we were able to locate the exact models of ventilators that KershawHealth's critical care teams were already trained to use."

The five ventilators will be returned to Prisma's Tuomey Hospital in Sumter after COVID-19 cases wane at KershawHealth, according to the release. Both Prisma Health and KershawHealth are members of the Midlands Healthcare Coalition, one of four regional healthcare emergency...