Jeremy Drinkwitz

Jeremy Drinkwitz is the President of the Mercy Hospital in Joplin. Joplin currently has the worst rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the county and three of the surrounding counties it serves are also in the top 10.

Prior to this delta variant-driven surge, Drinkwitz said their COVID-19 inpatient record high was 60 patients last November. But during the last several weeks, that has risen into the 70s, and – as of yesterday, to 81 COVID-19 inpatients.

So, Drinkwitz spoke about the impact of the current COVID-19 surge – and hospitalizations – on his community and hospital staff.