Jefferson City hospitals capable of holding over 200 patients
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
As of Wednesday night, there are seven confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cole County and 356 cases in Missouri.
Numbers from the Missouri Department of Health and Human Services show the two major Jefferson City health care providers have a total of 268 licensed beds.
Capital Region Medical Center has 114 total licensed beds while SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital has 154 total licensed beds.
ABC 17 News requested information about supplies like personal protective equipment at the hospitals. Jessica Royston, a spokesperson with SSM Health, said they would not comment on specific numbers, but did say safety is a top priority.
"In terms of PPE, the safety of our patients, visitors, employees and physicians is our top priority. SSM Health is following all CDC guidelines and protocols regarding the appropriate usage of personal protective equipment, including masks, gloves and gowns," Royston wrote in an email Wednesday. "Our caregivers have what they need to safely deliver care. However, these items are in high demand nationwide and supplies are limited. Like other health systems across the country, we are working to conserve supplies, as well as finding new supply sources for certain items. This is necessary to ensure we continue to have what we need in the days and weeks ahead."
Royston also encouraged members of the public to abide by the guidance from local government.
"...it would be enormously helpful to medical capacity if people will help 'flatten the curve' by being attentive to handwashing, social distancing and where advised by local government, staying at home," Royston said.
Mayor Carrie Tergin said she has been in constant communication with health leaders.
"We have communication through our emergency operations center -- that is where we have communication with our local hospitals," Tergin said. "The Cole County Health Department is leading that discussion, leading the meetings, leading and communications so that is something where we have our city our county, the sheriff, we have EMS, ambulance service, the hospitals, schools, all of the entities that are meeting to have this very consistent and concise communication together because we all are working together on this."
On March 23, the Cole County Health Department announced 'stay-at-home' and travel advisories to help combat the spread of COVID-19.
"We encourage the community to follow the directives that are coming out from Cole County Health, any kind of orders any kind of advisories, please follow those, it's very important that we all listen together and do that right now the most important thing is that people are following the advice," Tergin said.
Tergin said its important to follow advisories to limit the spread of the virus.
"It's very important because we know that this will help to limit the spread of the virus if we follow these directives and follow these rules and so we encourage everybody to do it, it's important that they stay at home," Tergin said.
Boone County announced its 'stay-at-home' order to stay in effect till April 24th but Cole County still hasn't set an end date.
"It wouldn't make sense to put an end date when we're still going through this so really what we're concerned about is making sure everybody has the information they need right now to stay safe they need to know exactly what to do to prevent this," Tergin said.
More information about how Cole County is handling the virus can be found on the health department's website.
"The best thing is for everybody to remain calm and have that information and know that they should be staying home, whenever possible," Tergin said.
ABC 17 News also contacted Capital Region Medical Center for information regarding COVID-19 but has not heard back.
