Columbia hospitals ready to gradually provide more services
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia's hospitals have shown they have the capacity to handle COVID-19 cases and other needed medical procedures without being overextended, city and health care leaders said during a Tuesday news conference.
Mary Beck, chief nursing officer at University of Missouri Health Care, used childhood immunizations, hernia surgeries and cardiac catheters as examples of procedures that have been put off but can start again.
"We're looking to say, 'Who's at high risk?' And so making those contacts with those people So we're hoping that you know, over the next several weeks that when that's when the dials start turning up, and that will come start coming back into business to really say, to bring people back in and or do a telehealth visit," said Beck.
"And we are looking at it now that we feel we can very, very slowly. It's not a light switch but very slowly move towards providing some more essential care. That's what we do," said Robin Blount with the Boone Medical Center.
Watch a replay of the news conference in the player below.
The resumption of such services will be gradual. Dr. Robin Blount with Boone Hospital Center said the medical providers will have to create procedures for social distancing in places such as waiting rooms and reception desks.
Boone County health director Stephanie Browning on Monday laid out milestones that must be met to lift restrictions on movement and gathering related to COVID-19.
Hospitals demonstrating they have capacity to handle COVID-19 cases and other essential care at the same time was one milestone. Others are the sustained decrease in new cases for 14 days, the ability to test everyone with COVID-19 symptoms and the health department's ability to actively monitor people diagnosed with COVID-19 and trace their contacts.
"We are not out of the woods yet, but thanks to the effort and sacrifice of families and physicians and nurses and businesses we have shown we can flatten the curve," Mayor Brian Treece said. "And we want these positive results to continue."
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