Fifteen Texas hospitals are slated to receive shipments of remdesivir, as announced today by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). The medication will be used to treat patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
According to the DSHS press release, the antiviral medication “has shown promise in early trials in speeding up the recovery time among hospitalized COVID-19 patients.”
Preliminary results from a clinical trial showed the average recovery time among patients who received remdesivir was 11 days versus 15 days with a placebo. Those preliminary results did not show significant survival benefit.
The medication is being provided by the federal government from a supply originally donated by Gilead, the manufacture of the drug.
Fifteen Texas hospitals in 14 communities will receive at least 1 case of the drug. Each case contains 40 vials of the drug. The drug must be prescribed in accordance with the Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Authorization for remdesivir.
The 15 named hospitals are:
- Amarillo: Northwest Texas Healthcare System
- Austin: Dell Seton Medical Center
- Corpus Christi: CHRISTUS Spohn Health System
- Dallas: Parkland Memorial Hospital
- El Paso: University Medical Center
- Fort Worth: John Peter Smith Hospital
- Houston: Ben Taub Hospital & Memorial Hermann Hospital System
- Laredo: Laredo Medical Center
- McAllen: South Texas Health System
- Odessa: Medical Center Hospital
- San Antonio: University Hospital System
- Tyler: Mother Frances Hospital
- Waco: Providence Health Center