Barnes-Jewish Hospital

Dr. Amjad Musleh, a Barnes-Jewish physician, reflects on his medical trip to Gaza where he helped treat Palestinian victims of war.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital opened its first adult sickle cell treatment center. The referral-based outpatient center will provide IV infusions to people with sickle cell disease who need immediate relief from pain without waiting at emergency rooms.

While the coronavirus is circulating less widely than in previous years, an uptick in hospital admissions of COVID-19 patients and a number of employees getting sick with the virus, flu and other illnesses led BJC to put the mask requirement in place, system officials said.

BJC Healthcare has finalized plans to merge with St. Luke's, a Kansas City-based health system that operates 14 hospitals in Kansas and Missouri. The two systems expect to complete the $10 billion deal by Jan. 1.

Patients who buy health insurance on the federal marketplace will be able to select a plan that includes BJC in its network, thanks to a last-minute deal with insurer Aetna, health system officials confirmed today.

Flu and other respiratory illnesses are on the rise in St. Louis. The increase in patients is coming as more health care employees leave their jobs, putting more strain on the remaining workforce.

A resurgence in COVID-19 cases is testing the endurance of health care workers who care for the sickest patients, most of whom are unvaccinated.

The St. Louis hospital plans to have a new tower open for patients in 2025.

St. Louis Children’s Hospital is treating adult patients with the coronavirus. The hospital began admitting adult patients with COVID-19 to relieve doctors at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, which is nearing its capacity.

Rapid testing is vital to keeping the coronavirus under control, experts said. But doctors in the St. Louis region are having to ration those tests as they become harder to find.