Surging virus cases strain Missouri hospitals, schools

ST. LOUIS -- Increasing COVID-19 cases combined with staff shortages are straining the ability of Missouri hospitals to provide care for patients with the virus and other illnesses, according to hospital officials.

Dr. Aamina Akhtar, chief medical officer for Mercy Hospital South, said patients coming to emergency rooms are sometimes waiting for days to be admitted to the hospital, or are discharged without getting proper care.

Those patients become "boarders" waiting in a room or hallway, she told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Staffing shortages also mean hospitals in St. Louis and other urban areas are not able to take patients from rural hospitals.

"Some of these patients unfortunately end up staying in the small ER rooms and pass away from clinical conditions that have easy medical solutions," Akhtar said.

Missouri's COVID-19 dashboard on Friday showed a new high for statewide hospitalizations, topping 2,900 for the first time and exceeding the record of 2,862 set in December 2020.

The state also is averaging an all-time high of nearly 8,000 confirmed and probable daily new cases. The positivity rate for PCR tests is 30%, six times higher than the goal of 5% set by the World Health Organization.

When the latest surge began in early December, 83-year-old Barbara Finch of Clayton went to the emergency room at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital in Creve Coeur, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia and an irregular heartbeat.

Finch said she waited three days in the emergency room until a room at a hospital with a cardiac unit became available. She said her health is improving.

Finch blamed her frightening ordeal partly on those who refuse to get vaccinated.

"We have a way to end this pandemic, and we have not done it because people are so selfish that they refuse to get a vaccine that would protect me and others," she said.

The problem is compounded by staffing shortages as hospital staff become ill or leave the profession because of burnout or other factors.

Columbia hospitals are facing their worst staffing issues since the pandemic began as the highly transmissible omicron variant spreads, officials at MU Health Care and Boone Health said Thursday.

"There's a big staffing crunch right here in Columbia, and it's not just us," said Dr. Laura Hesemann, MU Health Care COVID-19 incident commander. "It's everyone throughout Missouri and throughout the state. It's across the country."

Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services reported 1,874 active cases Thursday after receiving more than 300 new reported cases each weekday this week, including a record 427 new cases Thursday. The previous record for active local cases came Nov. 22, 2020, when there were 1,212, the Columbia Tribune reported.

Dr. Eden Esguerra, an infectious disease specialist at Mercy hospitals in the Joplin region, said it can be frustrating that many patients being treated in the latest surge have not been vaccinated because vaccination is the best way to stop the pandemic, the Joplin Globe reported.

"Yes, it's frustrating . but my job is to take care of people and not to judge," she said. "(But) it is very difficult, though . I try not to open that door because I then can't do an effective job."

Schools also continue to grapple with increasing COVID-19 cases and a shortage of teachers and substitutes.

On Thursday, the Kansas City Council approved a mask mandate for Kansas City Schools, and the Lee's Summit School District reinstated its mask mandate.

The Kansas City mandate, which takes effect Monday, replaces a similar rule that expired Jan. 1.

"I think a goal that many people share is that we keep our schools open regularly for in-person instruction," said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who introduced the new order.