Burdened by omicron wave of COVID, CoxHealth to reschedule 'routine' doctor appointments

The impact of COVID-19's omicron wave now includes likely delays for ordinary patient visits at Springfield-area doctor's offices from now through late February.

CoxHealth began emailing patients Tuesday morning to notify them that over the next 30 to 45 days, "wellness and routine" doctor appointments at the Springfield-based health care system might be rescheduled as primary care doctors are "adjusting their schedules" to face the current phase of the pandemic.

The emails, attributed to Dr. Tim Jones, Cox Medical Group president, were accompanied by social media posts Monday night, said Cox spokesperson Randy Berger.

An average of about people, or 2.4 percent of Cox staff, have been absent due to COVID-19 in recent times, Berger said.

Berger said that the staffing adjustment represents actions under "Tier 1" of Cox's pandemic resource plan, which has three tiers in total.

"We are planning for a scenario that could be as high as 10 percent or more" of staff out sick, Berger said in an email Tuesday night. "As with so many things related to the pandemic, we will plan for the worse case and hope for the best."

The email from Jones sent earlier in the day said that the goal of rescheduling doctor visits is to "treat more patients who are acutely ill."

"Beginning this week, primary care clinics will be calling patients to reschedule some wellness and maintenance management appointments," the email sent to patients stated. "A provider will review and approve any rescheduled appointments to ensure that all patients are receiving timely care."

The email also stated, "Rescheduling these appointments allows our primary care physicians to add appointment times to treat patients who need symptomatic or emergent care."

More: CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards gives dire omicron warning — and 8 ways to protect yourself

Jones's email said primary care doctors will "support" the system's urgent care clinics, "which are currently operating beyond capacity."

At this time last year, Cox urgent cares were serving 350 to 400 visits per day; now they are serving more than 700 patients per day, the email from Jones said.

Cox: Call your doctor before going to urgent care

Cox asked patients who are ill and seeking care to call their primary doctor's office first, rather than visiting an urgent care. They can also use Cox Virtual Visits on Demand service to connect with a provider, the system said.

Expect busy hospitals, emergency rooms and urgent cares in the weeks to come.

"We are asking for patience and understanding as we manage the surge and work to meet the needs of our communities," Jones said in his email.

Health department: With omicron variant, ‘worst surge yet’ of pandemic likely on its way to Springfield

Sonya Kullmann, Mercy Springfield Communities spokesperson, said Mercy facilities in southwest Missouri had 214 employees unable to report to work on Tuesday due to COVID-19. When asked about possible changes to doctor's office scheduling shortly before press time, she said, "I feel really comfortable saying right now we don't have any plans like that at this point."

Last week, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department warned southwest Missouri that the highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19 means the area will experience the "worst surge yet" in the two-year-old pandemic. A week earlier, Gov. Mike Parson ended the state's 22-month-old declaration of COVID-19 emergency.

Tuesday morning, the health department said the Springfield area's 7-day case average now stood at 417 cases, a 358 percent increase since Dec. 13. Currently, 204 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Greene County, a 76 percent increase over the past month.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Cox's intensive care unit in Springfield was 92 percent full, while Mercy's was 86 percent full. Statewide, Missouri ICUs are 87 percent full.

St. Louis University health sociologist Chris Prener, who has been tracking Missouri pandemic data since early in the pandemic, wrote on Twitter Sunday that St. Louis is now averaging more new COVID-19 cases than the entire state did at its worst case load peak in fall 2020.

Kansas City and the rest of the state "are individually averaging more new cases than the entire state did during the summer '21 Delta wave," Prener wrote.

Reach News-Leader reporter Gregory Holman by emailing gholman@gannett.com. Please consider subscribing to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Due to omicron COVID cases, CoxHealth to delay 'routine' appointments