Aug. 20, 2021

COVID-19 update

We are currently at 151 COVID patients at CoxHealth, a significant decline from the 174 we were at last week at this time. We celebrate with patients who have gone home, but mourn the others who have passed away. We have lost nearly 115 patients who are between 20 and 59 years old with COVID since the start of the pandemic, and many of them likely leave children and young families behind. It is heartbreaking in these situations that vaccination could likely have helped create a different outcome. Please continue to encourage vaccination – it is not too late!

We are hosting a clinic tomorrow in Springfield to offer third doses of COVID vaccine to those who are moderately to severely immunocompromised, per the FDA’s recommendation last week. Other shots will be given throughout the region by appointment, if someone can’t participate in this event. To register, click here or call 417-269-1300. The phone number may also be used if one needs to schedule a third shot at another time and location.

First and second doses are also still available at walk-in clinics on Tuesday and Thursday in Springfield from 4 – 6 p.m. at CoxHealth Center Chesterfield. For those, no registration is required. These shots may be given at other times too by appointment – just call 417-269-INFO.

Kids and COVID-19

As we get closer to the start of school, we want to share an additional resource for those who are seeking more information about COVID-19 and kids. In a video we released today, Dr. Kofi Asare-Bawuah, our medical director of Pediatrics, and Dr. Jason Newland, Washington University pediatric infection disease specialist from St. Louis Children's Hospital, answer common COVID questions about vaccination and give an update on what they’re seeing. Please feel free to share it with those who are seeking for more info.

Reminder of employee strength

I am always in awe of the strength of our staff. However, an incident this week in one of our parking garages – with a man, upset over COVID vaccinations – especially reminded me of this, and of the threats many of our employees regularly face. At CoxHealth alone, the number of workplace violence incidents grew from 3,248 in 2018 to 4,058 in 2020.

We spoke out about this in the media this week, and shared what we are doing to help keep our staff safe. Some of these measures include the addition of K9 officers to act as a de-escalation tool, and emergency buttons installed in Emergency Departments. We were also grateful to our legislators for helping Senate Bill 53 become law this year. It means victims would no longer have to list address or place of residence when pressing charges, and would now be defined as “special victim” which would mean they could use their initials instead of full name.

New VP of CoxHealth at Home

We announced this week that Jim Farmer has been hired as our next vice president of CoxHealth at Home. Jim has more than 16 years in experience in home care services, including home health, hospice, DME and specialty pharmacy. We are excited to have him on our team, and look forward to his start on Aug. 30.

Voice of the Patient

Feedback at Cox Barton County -- a Facebook message shared with permission from the family: “I am so thankful that God chose to bring dad to Cox Barton. The kindness and respect that each of your nurses showed toward my dad was such a blessing. I know he required a lot of one-on-one attention because he was very ‘busy,’ and even then, the nurses continued to be patient with him. When I was checking on him at all hours of the day, each of the nurses took time to explain to me exactly how he was doing. I never felt rushed or cut short in a conversation. I am thankful for the care dad received from each member of your staff as he was losing the fight with COVID. You all will forever be a bright spot for me in dad’s journey.”

Thank you for all you do,

Steve

Direct Line from Steve Edwards: 8/20/21