Direct Line from Steve Edwards: March 5

COVID-19 update

We are encouraged as COVID-19 vaccinations continue for our employees and community members. As of this week, we are around 30,000 total doses administered. In addition to vaccine, these doses are filled with hope: With each one, people’s lives are protected.

We have progressed through our internal stages for vaccine distribution, and are now offering the vaccine to all Southwest Missouri residents ages 65 and above. As of today, we are also offering it to individuals who are ages 60 to 64 with qualifying comorbidities. Our physician leaders are working on an approach to distribute vaccine to individuals of younger ages who have similar comorbidities, and we will share more about that process soon.

We are also very glad to see a diminishing number of COVID-19 patients in our facilities. As of this morning, we have only 25 COVID-positive patients in the system, 10 of whom are non-infectious and just four in critical care. These numbers are so encouraging, but we do continue to advocate for vaccination, especially since we believe that this tool will help reduce the risk of another surge in the coming months.

We have seen the benefit of vaccination firsthand: There has been a drastic reduction in cases in our employees (mostly acquired in the community) after vaccinations began, so we know the impact they can have.

Karen Kramer honored with ATHENA Award

A highlight of this week was on Wednesday, when Karen Kramer, our Chief Hospital Officer and Incident Commander for COVID-19 response, was honored with the ATHENA Award from the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. The award is intended to honor exceptional professionals and leaders, thus inspiring others to achieve excellence in their professional and personal lives.

Karen is the perfect example of this. She has served at CoxHealth for more than 30 years in a number of roles, and her care and compassion have made a significant impact on our patients and employees. Her skill, dedication and level-headed leadership have never been more evident than over the past year as she has led CoxHealth’s COVID-19 response. We are so fortunate to have her at CoxHealth, and celebrate this most-deserved moment with her.

A new CARE Mobile now rolling to serve local kids

A new CARE Mobile is now travelling throughout the region to serve local kids. A pediatric clinic on wheels, the CARE Mobile offers basic health care to children from two months old through age 18. The program is a partnership between Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, CoxHealth and a number of supporters, including Great Southern Bank. Throughout the school year, the CARE Mobile is routinely scheduled to visit schools in the area. With this convenience, children are able to get additional health care services brought directly to them.

Charity of the Month

With the flip of the calendar, we are now recognizing foster care awareness. For the month of March, we will be highlighting several organizations that work across our region to provide services for children in foster care. CoxHealth has partnered with these organizations over the years, and this month we have the opportunity for these organizations to share more about their mission. Stay tuned for more stories about this in the coming weeks.

Vaccine voices

“My husband and I received our second vaccination for COVID-19 and were so happy to have that done and also so impressed with the efficiency and the way it was managed. We didn't have to wait in line or when we were talking to the person doing records at the computer, and from there right on to the person giving the shot, and then a 15-minute wait to be sure we were alright before we left. It probably didn't take 30 minutes altogether! Many thanks to CoxHealth!”

Voice of the patient

"My mom was in a rehab facility over this past weekend; she has since come back to Cox South. She was in desperate need of a new mask for her CPAP. It was late and we were so worried that we would not get anything done on the weekend. I reached out to the on-call tech for CoxHealth at Home and Lori Wilson reached out to me. She and I texted back and forth from 9 p.m. until past 11 p.m. trying to get the correct mask for my mom. She managed to locate a mask and Daniel Curl delivered it. I just want to make sure that their leadership and they know how greatly that was appreciated."​

Thanks for all you do,

Steve