BJC Healthcare

Making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for workers at St. Louis hospitals has not sparked a mass exodus. Hospital officials in St. Louis say the vast majority of their employees have gotten the vaccine by the fall deadlines administrators set earlier this summer.

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

It's unclear what Friday's action means, since the public health order for masking is currently frozen based off a court order.

After the Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, at least one hospital system in Missouri announced it would mandate the shots for employees. Just over half of Missouri adults are fully vaccinated, and doctors hope the full approval will persuade more skeptical patients to seek out the shot.

As coronavirus cases rise and more contagious variants take hold in Missouri, the four largest hospital systems in St. Louis are requiring all their workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by fall. Employees at St. Luke’s, SSM Health, BJC HealthCare and Mercy Health will need to be vaccinated by late September. Hospital officials say unvaccinated health workers are more at risk of catching the virus and more likely to spread it to patients.

More coronavirus vaccination events are coming to St. Louis and Kansas City starting next week, Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday. A higher percentage of people are interested in receiving the vaccine in urban centers than in rural areas, Parson said. Because of that difference in demand, more mass vaccination events will be moved to the state’s two largest metropolitan areas.

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.

In spring, the region's largest hospital systems put a moratorium on elective procedures and surgeries. But another freeze could prove financially devastating for hospitals overwhelmed with coronavirus patients and short-staffed.

Two months after canceling most procedures because of the coronavirus pandemic, hospitals in St. Louis are now scheduling elective surgeries for…

About a month ago, Dr. Keith Woeltje’s initial projections plotting the curve of COVID-19 cases in the St. Louis region looked bleak.“For a couple of days…