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Some regional hospitals experience continued strain

By Madison Parry

As Missouri falls just shy of a new record in daily COVID-19 deaths, some Kansas City regional hospitals and other health facilities are continuing to see a strain in resources and capacity as new cases continue rolling in.

Rising COVID-19 case counts and an upward creeping death count in Missouri have had a domino effect on hospitals in the region.

The rate for hospitalizations to cases in the Kansas City region sits at 17.3 percent, according to the latest data from the Mid-America Regional Council COVID-19 Hub.

Although not an overwhelming statistic, hospitals remain concerned about the availability of beds, especially in the ICU.

Around Thanksgiving, Johns Hopkins University showed statewide hospitalizations in Missouri dropped to 2,654 from 2,813.

Nonetheless, Kansas City Health Department Director Rex Archer said that capacity at the within the region’s 33 hospitals is being put at risk by the influx of patients.

Reported increased hospitalizations which have contributed to some strain have been primarily at larger health systems, who are taking in a growing number out-of-metro rural patients.

In an interview with NPR, Dr. Marc Larsen in Emergency Medicine at Saint Luke’s said two-thirds of the system’s patients being treated for COVID-19 are arriving from rural areas.

Typically, these patients require intensive care and stay in the hospital for an average of two weeks, Larsen said.