CITY HOSPITALS ARE BULGING WITH PATIENTS

The medical-surgical wards at both Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center are nearly filled to capacity.

On Friday, Southeast hospital's medical-surgical ward was 96 percent full, which meant only five of the unit's 127 beds were open, said Sharon Stinson, a director of nursing at Southeast. That is about 25 percent more patients than normal for this time of year.

At St. Francis, the medical-surgical units Friday were at 92 percent capacity, which meant fewer than 20 beds were available, said St. Francis spokesperson Kim Groves. She said the number of beds occupied at St. Francis as a whole generally averages about 150, and that has fluctuated in the last week between 150 and 170.

At both hospitals patients with flu and pneumonia accounted for a substantial number of patients in the medical-surgical wards.

The increased patient loads have meant some shifting of staff, the hospitals said.

Stinson said additional beds can be added to the medical-surgical unit at Southeast if needed. Employees in home-health, hospice and education areas have been on call since Thursday to provide the extra staff that would be needed if those beds are added.

As the number of patients has increased at St. Francis, managers have been working on the wards, and staff members have been working extra hours or coming in on their days off, Groves said.

"There are a lot of sick folks out there," said Stinson.

She said in addition to the large number of patients being treated for flu and pneumonia, there also has been an increase in heart attack and surgery patients.

"January is traditionally very busy, but it's usually toward the end of January. This started around New Year's," she said.