KENTUCKY — Kentucky is going through yet another surge of COVID-19 cases and rural parts of the state are no exception. 

On this week's episode - we’re talking about how most rural hospitals did not have large numbers of COVID-19 patients this spring and summer.

But with the current record-breaking surge of the virus in rural areas, that will likely be different as we prepare for the upcoming winter months.

During this In Focus Kentucky segment, Jim Musser is the Vice President of Health Policy with the Kentucky Hospital Association weighs in on this discussion.

"Well I think we, we have good news and some somber news. The hospitals have been doing a great job of managing their capacity, and they have been working together to form plans so that when they need to respond to a surge in a particular area, they have a plan in place for moving patients as necessary. But the great news is they have really been managing the capacity very well, and they have the ability to add some more capacity. So, you know, God forbid we don't we don't want to see a further surge, but the hospitals have been doing a good job on that front. Now, on the more somber end of the spectrum is what happens when our healthcare workers contract COVID-19, and they're under quarantine if they've been exposed and they're under quarantine?? We start losing those frontline health workers, it becomes much more difficult to take care of our patients and so that really is probably a greater worry than the actual capacity," explains Musser.