Muncie’s IUH-Ball Memorial Hospital Is Full; Leadership Says Staff Is Coping

Muncie’s IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital is full, but coping, according to the hospital’s leadership. This normally would not be news, except for the fact that the United States is in its first pandemic since the flu pandemic of 1918 – the same year Ball State opened for business, just across University Avenue from today’s location of Ball Memorial.

Today, hospitals coast-to-coast and beyond are straining with COVID-19 patients added atop normal work loads. So we wanted to check in with Ball Memorial to hear how the Muncie hospital is doing as COVID-19 numbers here, and across the country, are surging.

Speaking on IPR’s Morning Edition this (Tue.) morning, long-time Muncie physician and president of IU Health’s East Central Region, Dr. Jeffrey Bird, detailed the hospital’s struggles and triumphs during the pandemic.  You can hear Part I of the two-part interview, on the audio app, below.