Flu and respiratory illnesses are hitting Missouri hard, and MU Health Care in Columbia says its emergency rooms are feeling the strain.
Dr. Laura Morris, family medical doctor and Chief Medical Officer of Ambulatory Care for MU Health Care. Photo permission granted by MU Health Care.
Dr. Laura Morris, Chief Medical Officer for ambulatory care, told Missourinet, that it’s important for patients to pick the right care option so emergency rooms stay open for those with life-threatening conditions.
“So, the healthy folks who happen to get a fever on a less urgent basis, we want to steer those folks to our outpatient clinics, to our urgent care or even to our quick care locations,” said Morris. “We have staff at those locations that are prepared to see folks and move them through pretty quickly.”
Morris said they hope levels are peaking.
“We also, though, are seeing a climb in our RSV cases and we have seen about a 30% uptick in our pediatric hospital numbers over the last week or so related to both flu and to RSV,” said Morris.
Morris told Missourinet that MU Health Care is mostly seeing cases of Influenza A.
“They look pretty similar to what we’ve experienced at the height of flu activity in years past,” said Morris. “And of course, this still does not begin to approach the stress on our resources that we had during the height of the COVID pandemic. We’re nowhere near that.”
Morris said COVID is still present in the community, but unlike flu, it’s not seeing a surge right now.