Springfield hospital turns away COVID patients

[TexasTowelie]

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)

[Diamond_Dog]

1. *sigh*

What does it take to get stubborn unvaccinated people to get their shots?!

[Jirel]

6. Well, it's a self-correcting behavior.

If they keep it up, we’ll still get to that 70% herd immunity point - thanks to lots more deaths. The only question is how many deaths in their circle will finally convince these idiots that it’s not “just a flu.” Looking at behavior during the Ebola epidemic, a lot of them won’t ever change their behavior. They’ll just die.

[HUAJIAO]

2. So 'we' (assuming the St Louis and KC area is more vaccinated than those outlying

areas) have to take care of these fools who refuse vaccination and masks.

A generalized statement but I think you get the idea....

The county where I live is about 65% 1 shot vaccinated(I think it is) BUT, most vaccinated are in the three largest "towns". People in rural areas are not. However, when they start getting "the flu" they will be brought to MY HOSPITAL ! I don't like that one bit....

[Sherman A1]

4. Yup

Pretty much the case.

[UpInArms]

5. Northwest Missouri

The county I live in has a 30% vaccination rate … which is better than the county south of me … 20%

sigh

[Pobeka]

3. Report on NPR this AM

A week ago 10% of theh isolates were Delta
Now 90% of the isolates are Delta

Branson is bad too for vaccinate rates.

[SWBTATTReg]

7. Nice. Leave it to these rural areas of MO to continue to infect the rest of the state of MO ...

w/ COVID 19. Thank god my sister and her family got vaccinated in SW Missouri.

[Rebl2]

8. I would

think these Springfield hospitals do have space and staff if they just cancel elective surgeries. It makes me mad they are sending them to St. Louis and KC.

[flotsam]

9. I wasn't up on the geography so I grabbed a map

anyone think this has anything to do with the fact that Branson MO (Home of the Superspreader Events) is just 42 miles away?

Edited to add events schedule:

https://www.google.com/search?q=events+brabson+mo+july-august+2021&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS800US800&oq=events+brabson+mo+july-august+2021&aqs=chrome..69i57.26225j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ibp=htl;events&rciv=evn&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiAtprO-L_xAhXmMlkFHa82AZAQ66QDegQIHxAH#htichips=date:tomorrow&htischips=&sxsrf=ALeKk00XB8LoI2t0TGVle_Sh0Ykaen3n3w:1625076202390&htivrt=events&fpstate=tldetail&htidocid=L2F1dGhvcml0eS9ob3Jpem9uL2NsdXN0ZXJlZF9ldmVudC8yMDIxLTA2LTI4fDE3NjcwODkwNDc5NTAwMjY0NjYy

[SWBTATTReg]

10. They do suspect that visitors are bringing infections into the area, but also, they are tons of

rump supporters throughout the region, who probably will have to be dragged into a clinic to get vaccinated.

What will happen in major parts of rural MO is that many will get sick, most will recover, but lots will die too. Already putting a severe strain on rural areas of MO that already have manpower shortages (big parts of rural MO have no industry, thus no jobs) and the few areas of rural MO w/ jobs are going to suffer even more shortages of manpower in fulfilling open slot jobs.

Branson MO is a good example, hundreds of hotels, hundreds of fast food joints, many entertainment venues such as mini. golf, Silver Dollar City, etc., all needed job slots filled. By the tens of thousands. And the Ozarks is a big mecca for retirees to live (cheap to live there although my Mom argued w/ my Dad repeatedly that it in fact, wasn't cheaper to live out there (and I agreed w/ my Mom). Everything if anything, was 50 to 100 miles away, doctors, dentists, groceries, you name it, 50 to 100 miles away, minimum.