COVID surge in Cole County impacts wait times, doctors push vaccines
COLE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)
As Missouri passes 10,000 COVID deaths and hospitals and ICU capacities peak, Cole County health officials discussed how they are mitigating the surge in Jefferson City.
Doctors from hospitals around Cole County came together for a press conference to discuss increasing COVID hospitalizations and their strategies for decreasing the number of people getting sick. All of the doctors emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated.
Dr. Thomas Robbins said he's using a soft approach to get people vaccinated. Robins said he sits down with patients to talk through their concerns and tries to explain why the vaccine is safe.
"It's surprising," Robbins said. "You know when you approach people like that you're going to get a lot more people that are going to at least consider getting it done of course if you shake your finger at him."
In the past week, Jefferson City Medical Group has administered 475 doses of the COVID vaccine.
"The more people that get vaccinated, the faster this thing is going to go away and the safer we're going to keep our patients, our community, our loved ones, our friends, and so on," Robbins.
Data from the state health dashboard shows Missouri is now at 10,002 deaths after 20 COVID deaths were added overnight. ICU hospitalizations are also peaking at 689 hospitalizations this Monday, according to data from the Department of Health and Senior Services.
Cole County was declared a COVID hotspot by DHSS on June 30. At the time, hospital resources were strained, and most area hospitals were near capacity. Cole County has one of the highest levels of infection in the state, ranking 11th for most new cases per capita over the past week. The county is tied with the much more populated Boone County with 128 reported deaths.
Watch playback of a coronavirus update from Cole County officials in the player below.
At a Wednesday press conference, Gov. Mike Parson said the strain on hospitals is due to short staffing, not lack of beds or equipment. Parson announced $30 million from the CARES Act will go to increasing hospital staffing and creating antibody infusion centers.
Dave Dillion with the Missouri Hospital Association said Parson's solution addresses the most pressing issue in Missouri hospitals -- staffing.
"We can expand out additional capacity," Dillon said. "But we can only do that if we’ve got clinicians to put right next to those beds."
