ST. LOUIS — People from our region's biggest healthcare providers announced the creation of a task force to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The leader of the task force, Dr. Alex Garza is the chief medical officer for SSM Health.
He also serves as a Colonel in the Army Reserves and was the lead for the Department of Homeland Security against the H1N1 pandemic.
"It gives us a single point of contact for all the healthcare systems and allows us to work collaboratively with each other," said Garza.
Representatives from BJC Healthcare, Mercy, SSM Health and St. Luke's Hospital will be coordinating with elected officials, other public health agencies, and federal agencies moving forward.
"We'll be looking at all of our individual supplies and the strain on the system, so if one facility is getting a lot more patients then they're able to handle then we can figure out the best way to supply them," said Garza.
The task force will also hold daily briefings at 3 p.m. for the foreseeable future.
5 On Your Side's Brandon Merano asked Dr. Garza if the task force will be relaying the CDC's message of the public wearing cloth masks in public places.
"Anything we can do to decrease spread is a good thing, but what we're concerned about is we don't want the issue of face masks to take over all of the other well proven methods for decreasing spread," said Garza.
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