Health Department, Emergency Management request funding for COVID alternative site

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department and the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management submitted a request to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the State Emergency Management Agency for a COVID-19 Alternative Care Site (ACS). The request was created in coordination with Cox- Health, Mercy and Jordan Valley Community Health Center in response to the growing need for medical care in the region due to the rise in severe cases of COVID- 19 requiring hospitalization
and critical care.
As of July 15, there were 231 patients being treated in Greene County hospitals with COVID-19, 104 of those were in critical care and 61 were on ventilators.
Greene County is averaging more than 196 cases per day, and the increase in severe illness is projected to outpace hospital capacity.
The ACS request would provide staffing for transitional care for COVID-19 patients. A location for this facility is still being determined.
In addition to the expanded inpatient facility, the request would:
- Provide funding for staffing of additional beds for COVID patients in area hospitals;
- Increase the capacity for antibody treatment;
- Create a centralized location for patients awaiting long-term care placement;
- Offer shelter for unsheltered individuals who are COVID-19 positive;
- Expand mobile testing staff;
- Issue an emergency declaration to fund ambulance support for transfers;
- Extend state waivers for hospital capacity and use.
If approved, this resource will address the regional surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations and will be available to patients throughout the region.