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CoxHealth invests $1M to expand COVID ward

BY: Geoff Pickle, Web Editorgpickle@sbj.net

Posted online December 7, 2020 | 12:14 pm

Springfield health care systems prepare to receive COVID vaccines

CoxHealth and Mercy Springfield Communities are preparing to receive COVID-19 vaccines as soon as this month, officials with the health care systems say.

Kaitlyn McConnell, spokesperson for CoxHealth, said the organization expects to have its initial shipment of Moderna Inc.'s vaccine around Dec. 21. She said the health care system currently is gauging employee interest to develop a schedule and plan for internal distribution.

At Mercy, spokesperson Sonya Kullmann said the timeline is less clear, as it's dependent on emergency authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Fox Business reports the FDA will consider emergency use authorization for Pfizer Inc.'s vaccine candidate this week and Moderna's vaccine on Dec. 17.

Kullmann said Mercy is a site for the Pfizer vaccine.

"Mercy is ready to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to prioritized groups in accordance with federal and state directives as soon as supplies become available," officials said in provided statement. "Mercy co-workers are strongly encouraged to get a vaccination for COVID-19 as soon as it is available to them based on prioritization protocols.

"Due to limited supply initially produced, the vaccine won’t be available to everyone immediately, and we continue to emphasize the importance of taking simple steps to prevent the spread of coronavirus until the public health crisis is declared over."

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department's COVID-19 dashboard shows 15,905 coronavirus cases to date as of this morning. There have been 220 deaths from the virus in Greene County.

CoxHealth this morning announced a $1 million expansion of its COVID-19 ward.

The health care system is adding 33 beds to its fifth-floor unit at Cox South, according to a news release.

“We have said from the beginning that we would rather build spaces and not need them, then need them and not have them,” said Steve Edwards, president and CEO of CoxHealth, in the release. “Our great hope is that we never need this expansion to care for COVID-19 patients, but it will have been worth it to us to have it ready if we do.”

The project calls on the transformation of remaining fifth-floor shell space in the Cox South tower. J.E. Dunn Construction Co. is serving as general contractor, said CoxHealth spokesperson Kaitlyn McConnell.

J.E. Dunn Construction also was general contractor for the original 51-bed COVID-19 unit completed in early April after just two weeks construction. CoxHealth began using the space for COVID-19 patients in July, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Prime Inc. issued a $700,000 donation for the project, followed by a $200,000 award from The Sunderland Foundation.

Edwards this morning tweeted the health care system currently has 136 COVID-19 patients admitted, down from over 160 last week.

The health care system has added more than 180 beds to its hospitals since the pandemic began, according to the release.