Originally published on December 10, 2020 11:49 am
As coronavirus infections grew exponentially in Missouri in the fall, many hospital leaders found themselves in the unusual position of explaining that the official state data about their bed space was wrong.
Though Missouri’s data showed that hospitals had plenty of beds available for patients, the numbers were inflated for months, in part because many hospitals themselves failed to follow reporting guidelines.
An analysis by KCUR found that the data remained uncorrected for weeks even after hospital doctors warned they had reached a critical point, leaving local leaders scrambling to respond after hospitals were nearly full. The data is used to determine local stay-at-home restrictions as well as gauge how hospitals are faring during the pandemic.