Some COVID-19 patients are being turned away from an overwhelmed hospital in southwestern Missouri amid a surge in cases, and some are being taken to less-stressed hospitals hundreds of miles away in Kansas City and St. Louis.
The Springfield News-Leaders quotes CoxHealth system president Steve Edwards as saying Tuesday that the Cox hospital in Springfield is on "COVID diversion" as the delta variant of the coronavirus gains momentum in the region, where large swaths of residents aren't vaccinated.
Edwards says four Cox patients recently were transferred to the St. Louis area and four went to Kansas City.
Officials at Springfield's other hospital, Mercy Springfield, say patients haven't been sent to bigger cities so far.
