Springfield, facing overwhelmed hospitals, asks Missouri to fund alternative care site
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Missouri COVID-19 delta variant surge
Missouri is experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations due in part to the spread of the delta variant. Read our latest coverage.
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Springfield-area health officials want state funding for a temporary site to care for the influx of COVID-19 patients overwhelming the city’s major hospitals, signaling the pandemic has reached a new, dangerous crisis point in southwest Missouri.
CoxHealth and Mercy, along with local health and emergency management leaders, have asked the Missouri Department for Health and Senior Services (DHSS) and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for an “alternative care site,” citing a rapid rise in hospitalizations driven by the highly-contagious delta variant.
“We are at our capacity,” CoxHealth president and CEO Steve Edwards said. “This time in the curve we’re behind.”
Springfield officials said in a statement that the site would meet “the growing need for medical care in the region due to the rise in severe cases of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization and critical care.”
The two hospitals are currently treating 231 virus patients and are projecting more in the coming days, said Katie Towns, acting director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. She said the need for beds will outstrip the facilities’ capacity in the coming days.
“With that need in mind, we need help,” Towns said at a news conference.
Springfield said in a statement the location of the site is still being determined. Officials are seeking the state funding not only to set up an alternative care site but also to pay for more staffing at hospitals, expand testing and antibody treatments and create a centralized location for patients awaiting long-term care placements.
Towns said local officials don’t know the cost of their request at the moment and described initial discussions with the agencies as positive.
“We will be working with SEMA and the local entities involved in the request from Springfield to determine how we will best meet the current health care needs of the community,” DHSS spokeswoman Lisa Cox said in an email.
Brent Hubbard, president and chief operating officer of Mercy Springfield, said the hospital is expecting 200 COVID patients by mid-August — a significant increase from the 132 patients the hospital was treating on Wednesday.
“We’re not trying to create panic, but it is a serious situation that we have in southwest Missouri,” Hubbard said.
As recently as last week, Gov. Mike Parson said Missouri’s health care system was “stable.” In Kansas City on Tuesday, he suggested health leaders in the region were playing the blame game, saying that “I think the message you’re seeing out of southwest Missouri is more people just trying to blame somebody for this virus.”
Southwest Missouri is in the midst of a case surge that began weeks ago and has now driven hospitalizations to breaking point levels. In Greene County alone, the average number of new cases each day has risen from 79 to 196 over the last month.
At the same time, the region is struggling with low vaccination rates. Many counties in southwest Missouri have fully vaccinated less than 40% of adults.
Local officials have made a significant vaccination push in recent days, hosting clinics at churches and enlisting clergy to urge vaccination.
This story was originally published July 14, 2021 at 4:48 PM.
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