Rep. Dusty Johnson visited Monument Health’s Rapid City Hospital on Wednesday to learn from front-line health care workers about their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of his tour, Johnson saw a 152-bed wing that was constructed in two weeks to help Monument Health deal with a possible surge of COVID-19 cases.

“Clearly as a country, we don’t have COVID-19 licked and we have some work to do to get this country back to where we need it to be,” Johnson said. “It is amazing how much thought has gone into making sure this community (Rapid City) is ready to respond to surges as they happen.”

Johnson said he is frustrated with the lack of testing for the coronavirus and thanked the nurses for their hard work.

“Testing is still not where we need it in this country, and some additional federal investment in testing is going to go a long way to getting us back to where we need to be,” he said. “I asked these direct-line health care professionals, these patient caregivers, what message would they have for the rest of the country. They said wash your hands and when you have to be around people wear a mask.

“I know that is not a message we all want to hear on a daily basis, but the reality is that it is just as important now as when we started hearing this message months ago.”