St. Louis area hospitals form coronavirus task force, prepare for ‘surge’ in cases
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To face a predicted surge in coronavirus cases in the next 10-14 days, St. Louis area hospital systems have banded together with the creation of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, officials announced Saturday.
The hospitals are following the path of police departments across the region that participate in the Major Case Squad to solve homicides as well as nonprofit groups like BackStoppers, which helps families of first-responders killed on the job.
Dr. Alex Garza, chief medical officer at SSM Health, will serve as the incident commander of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force in the effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“The next 10 days to two weeks are critical. A surge is coming,” Garza said in a news release. “Our hospitals are already working to save lives and doing heroic work. But what we do as individuals — whether we stay at home, practice social distancing, wash our hands — will directly reduce the number of patients into our health-care systems and impact whether our health-care providers are able to manage the curve. What we do as individuals will affect how many people get sick, and how many people are able to recover.”
Along with SSM Health, BJC HealthCare, Mercy and St. Luke’s Hospital have joined the task force.
The task force will coordinate the supplies, hospital beds and other critical assets needed to treat COVID-19 patients. The group also will host daily news conferences.
St. Louis County has announced five COVID-19 related deaths and three have been reported in the city of St. Louis, according to the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services.
There have been three deaths reported in St. Clair County.
“We will get through this if we all do our part,” Garza said. “But the single most important priority for our community must be to slow the spread of this virus.”
In southwestern Illinois, SSM Health has St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia and Good Samaritan Hospital in Mount Vernon. BJC HealthCare has Alton Memorial Hospital, Memorial Hospital in Belleville and Memorial Hospital East in Shiloh.
This story was originally published April 4, 2020 at 11:33 AM.
