Patrick McKenna Archives

Highlights from today’s press briefing about COVID-19 in Missouri

March 26, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

At least 502 people in Missouri have tested positive for the coronavirus, compared to yesterday’s count of 356. The latest state data shows the age range with the most cases is 50 to 59-year-olds. They have 114, compared to the next leading age group of 20 to 29-year-olds having 88 cases.

During a press conference today, State Health Director Randall Williams says Missouri continues to make changes to better monitor the outbreak.

“We do track negatives. We changed our regulations so that we know we that we have done more than 6,000 tests here in Missouri,” says Williams.

Missouri is currently only testing nursing home and assisted living center residents who show signs of the respiratory disease. Gov. Mike Parson says he would be willing to get everyone in the facilities tested if that was possible.

“As much as I would like to help everyone that could be able to be tested today that wants to be tested, the reality of it is we don’t have the tests,” says Parson. “They don’t have it nationally. So, we have to prioritize who we are going to test and who we are not.”

Parson says priority goes to those out on the front lines, especially healthcare workers, first responders and those with symptoms of the virus.

Missouri has relaxed some requirements to make it easier for truck drivers to deliver essential goods during the coronavirus outbreak. State Transportation Department Director Patrick McKenna says the agency will continue to look for ways to ease the challenges facing its transportation partners during this critical time.

“We’ve relaxed the hours of operation for motor carriers, to give them more flexibility for transporting goods,” says McKenna. “We’ve eased restrictions to allow for heavier than normal truckloads of emergency supplies and equipment to travel on all Missouri highways, including interstates.”

To ensure the continued transportation of essential supplies, equipment, and individuals, the Missouri Department of Revenue has also issued the following extensions in coordination with MoDOT:

• Sixty-day extension of driving privileges: This extension applies to individuals with CDL or non-CDL license expiration dates of March 1, 2020, through April 30, 2020. For example, an individual with a CDL expiring March 1, 2020, will have until May 1, 2020, to complete the required license renewal in their local license office.

• Extension of CDL medical certificates: This extension applies to individuals holding a CDL or CLP with a current medical certificate that has been issued for a period of 90 days or more and has an expiration date of March 1, 2020, through April 30, 2020. These individuals have been granted an extension of their medical certification until June 30, 2020. This relief will give Missouri’s commercial drivers additional time to complete the required medical exam and to submit an updated medical certificate to their local license office so their Missouri driver record can be updated.

• Both of these extensions have been applied automatically, so no additional action is required by eligible drivers to qualify.

McKenna says rest areas around the state are also being cleaned and disinfected on a more frequent basis.

Missouri Department of Mental Health (DMH) Director Mark Stringer says the agency serves people of all ages with mental illness, substance use disorders, and intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Department helps about 170,000 people a year through both institutions and community programs.

To ensure the department’s services continue with as little disruption as possible, it has worked with partners across state government to make it possible for community providers to do much of their work by telephone, rather than the traditional face-to-face requirement. Service providers have also dramatically increased their use of telehealth, and the agency is exploring ways to stay in touch with people who cannot afford cell phones or extra minutes.

For psychiatric hospitals and rehabilitation centers, DMH has worked with other state departments to share best practices, policies, and procedures during times of crisis. Public visitation is temporarily suspended at all DMH facilities and offices statewide.

Stringer says the Federal Disaster Distress Help Line was created for times like the current coronavirus outbreak. Stringer encouraged citizens struggling to cope with the health crisis to contact the 24/7 hotline.

“It is staffed with mental health professionals who can talk with you and if you need more help than they can provide, they can connect you with services here in Missouri,” says Stringer. “Specially, they can connect you with our Access Crisis Intervention System or ACI.”

Stringer says the ACI, which is free and confidential, is staffed with professionals linked to state certified mental health and substance misuse services.

Click here for the Federal Disaster Distress Help Line. Click here for the Access Crisis Intervention System.

Surge in Missouri construction jobs, shortage of Missouri workers

October 2, 2019 By Ashley Byrd

Missouri’s economy is benefitting from an increase in construction jobs, especially to fix roads and bridges thanks to a windfall of federal and state support this year. Between July and August, the state gained 2,300 construction jobs.

But while there’s a surge in opportunities, there’s a shortage of workers in the state to fill these jobs. State transportation director Patrick McKenna and Len Toenjes, president of AGC Missouri Monday announced the growth and opportunities identified in an industry survey.

Their findings show that 80 percent of the state’s contractors are having trouble finding qualified workers. While Toenjes praises the ramped up efforts of the state’s technical colleges, he says his industry suffers from an image problem.

“A lot of people look at a four-year college degree, being a doctor, being a lawyer has a certain persona in today’s society,” Toenjes says. “Our message is construction is a very honorable career, that it’s about more than the money or the stature, while we’re looking at people who come out of a four-year college degree with some sort of huge student debt and some kind of degree that may or may not have any validity in the marketplace.”

Capital’s Welsh listens as McKenna, Toenjes announce construction numbers, flanked by bridge project on Hwy 63 in mid-Missouri

Eddie Welsh, chief operating officer of Capital, a Missouri-based construction contractor, says construction is about making money too.

“For kids that are 15, 16 and 17, the more that we can educate them that they can get out of school,” he told Missourinet. “We have a number of employees right now that are 19 and 20 years old making $60,000 to $80,000 a year.” Those wages are above the median income for the state of Missouri, and many of his field employees get the winter off.

Capital has major public projects underway around the state, including a flurry of bridge rehabs in mid-Missouri.

“We could add 30 percent more workers in the state of Missouri alone just for DOT work. the commercial work is so high, with people building big box storage for freight, FedEx and UPS and all those folks doing big buildings in Kansas City. St. Louis and all over. They take a lot of workers that would otherwise be working on Department of Transportation projects,” he adds.”

Welsh and other contractors hire crews from neighboring states to fill the gaps. According to the Missouri Economic Research and Development Center, Missouri’s construction employment is projected to grow 13.11 percent by the year 2026.

“We’re in the middle of a perfect storm,” Welsh says. “We’ve got state funding from the Department of Transportation, we’ve got a healthy economy and the one thing that we are all in need of is labor.”