Direct Line with Steve Edwards: 7/23/21

COVID-19 update

We continue to prepare to serve the escalating numbers of COVID-19 patients in our communities. Today, we are up to more than 160 hospitalized patients with COVID, which is very near our record high from last winter. Our projections show that we may be as high as 230 within a few weeks. We have lost 34 more lives due to COVID in the past 8 days. We are extremely grateful that additional traveling staff continue to arrive to help support our team, and allow us to keep more patients at our hospitals. Within the next few weeks, around 280 will be with us. Our staff are tired, but they have amazing dedication and continue to serve our community in a fashion I can only describe as heroic.

We have received an emergency waiver from the state of Missouri which allows respiratory therapists to serve in Missouri from other states. Last night, additional ambulance strike teams arrived in Springfield. These will be chiefly used to do long-haul patient transfers to other facilities outside our area. This allows our ambulances to stay closer to home and serve emergent needs in southwest Missouri. We are still awaiting word from the Governor’s office on our application for support of an alternative care site. The first application was not approved, and we are reapplying. We appreciate that the state is attempting to work quickly, but as you might imagine, health care is accustomed to responding to emergencies in seconds, not days or weeks, and we are impatient because the need is critical and urgent.

It was great to get news this week that a $950,000 HRSA grant has been awarded to CoxHealth to help improve vaccine confidence throughout our area. We will share more info about how these funds will be used in the coming weeks, but want to celebrate this moment now, and thank the CoxHealth Foundation for their great work on this effort.

We continue to get questions about vaccine safety with regard to women, fertility and pregnancy. Dr. Patricia Dix shares answers to these questions in this video, which is a good resource should you know others with these questions. Please feel free to share it with anyone who would benefit from hearing what she has to say.

We also have more opportunities next week for COVID vaccines on a walk-in basis. On July 27 and 29, from 4 – 6 p.m., we will be giving shots at CoxHealth Center Chesterfield in Springfield. In Branson, a clinic will also be held on July 27 from 2 – 6 p.m. at the Hilton Promenade on the Branson Landing. Please bring photo ID and insurance card, if one is available. All ages 12 and older are welcome and no appointments are needed.

Medicaid Expansion

In the middle of a troubled time, we are pleased to see that the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the will of the people by supporting voter-supported Medicaid Expansion. This initiative will offer great benefit to our patients and region through a safety net that allows more people access to health care.

Support RN positions

This week, we announced a new job category at CoxHealth: Support RNs, who will help floor nurses in managing the care of medical and surgical patients. These positions will also help with assessing patient conditions, administering medications, changing dressings, monitoring vital signs, keeping records and providing patients and families with support and education. While it could be a good fit for any RN, we hope that individuals who are retired might be interested in this option as a way to serve their community on a flexible schedule.

New record for stroke care

Another moment to celebrate this week: We have a new record for how little time it took for a patient to receive tPA, a drug which can help mitigate the effects of stroke, after arriving at the Emergency Department at Cox South. Previously the record was 12 minutes, but now, it’s nine. A shout out goes to the many departments and people involved in setting this record. Great joy comes from helping patients have better outcomes.

Voice of the Patient

From patient feedback at the Cox South ED: “All I can say is that I will give the team and staff a 110% thumbs up.”

Thank you for all you do,

Steve