After the disastrous year of 2020 has come and gone, Missouri has crossed the milestone of one million vaccinations to hopefully make 2021 a safer, healthier year in comparison.
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The one-year anniversary of the first identified case of COVID-19 in Missouri has come and gone this month. Missouri has leapt through many hurtles, just as numerous other states have, to respond to COVID-19 and work towards recovery. The state has administered more than one million vaccinations. Hospitals continue the vital deliverance of the vaccine as they persist with treating patients.
This milestone would not have been possible to cross if it weren’t for the thousands of front-line caregivers ready and willing to care for Missouri residents. Many hospitals have been administering the vaccine through mass clinics. Some have coordinated with other communities, organizations, even the Missouri National Guard, to perform large vaccination events.
The partnerships of health care providers and other organizations in their communities have been essential to the response to the pandemic. Hospitals have partnered with public health sources, a variety of economic divisions, educators, and government administrations to achieve the following:
- Hospitals created mass testing sites throughout Missouri.
- Bed capacity extended and COVID-19 units formed in some hospitals to manage risen number of patients.
- Tele/Virtual health services increased capacity to better serve patients from their homes.
- COVID-19 inpatient care has been provided to around 7,800 patients.
- Over 56% of vaccines in Missouri have been given by individual hospitals.
- Missourians remain informed of the status, and response and recovery efforts throughout the state through regularly updated information on MHA’s website and in newsletter.
- MHA contributed in the state’s “fusion cell” for COVID-19 statewide coordination alongside other state agencies.
- Hospitals maintained essential services, making sure that residents stayed healthy and had access to high-quality care in a safe environment.
“Although our response and recovery are ongoing, it is now possible to see a return to normal in the months ahead,” said Herb B. Kuhn, MHA President and CEO. “Before COVID-19 reached the state, hospitals were prepared to protect and serve their communities. Although the response has lasted longer than most of us could have envisioned, our ability to continue is possible, in part, because of the strong partnership with the state of Missouri and Gov. Parson’s leadership.”
This journey through the pandemic has revealed ongoing disparities in the Missouri health care system. Hospitals are working to identify and knock down these walls to better serve their patients. COVID-19 has presented opportunities for health care providers to establish new relationships and alliances to tackle constant inequities in offering health care services to Missouri residents.