CoxHealth responds to Joplin tornado

Following the tornado in Joplin, CoxHealth has received approximately 100 patients, and patients continue to report to our Emergency Department.

Our top priority is opening hospital beds to care for tornado victims. We’re asking people with loved ones in the hospital who are ready to be discharged to make transportation arrangements as soon as possible.

For storm victims who are being discharged from the hospital and do not have a place to go, we are working to arrange transportation to the Red Cross shelter at Missouri Southern State University.

If you need to check on a loved one who is a patient at CoxHealth, please call 417-269-3211.

In the early response to the disaster, CoxHealth dispatched five EMS crews, three ER physicians and nine ER nurses as well as ER and operating room supplies to the Joplin area. Staff members continue to volunteer to assist both in Joplin and in Springfield hospitals.

More updates will be released as additional information becomes available.