Springfield hospital turns away COVID patients [View all]

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Some COVID-19 patients are being turned away from an overwhelmed Springfield hospital where cases are surging and taken to less-stressed hospitals hundreds of miles away in Kansas City and St. Louis.

CoxHealth system president Steve Edwards said Tuesday the hospital in Springfield was on "COVID diversion" as the Delta variant gains momentum in the southwest part of the state, where large swaths of residents aren't vaccinated, the Springfield News-Leaders reported.

He said four Cox patients recently were transferred to BJC HealthCare, a St. Louis-area health system with 14 hospitals including Barnes-Jewish, a big teaching hospital tied to Washington University's medical school. Another four Cox patients have been transferred to St. Luke's Health System in Kansas City, Edwards said.

Edwards cited internal Cox data showing 47 COVID patients transferred into Cox facilities from June 1-21, many of them from hospitals in smaller communities such as Lebanon and Mountain View, while 23 transferred out.

Read more: https://www.newstribune.com/news/local/story/2021/jun/30/springfield-hospital-turns-away-covid-patients/877150/
(Jefferson City News Tribune)