ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis area's major healthcare systems are joining together to create a St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force to combat COVID-19.
The region's major healthcare systems, including BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health and St. Luke's Hospital are set to announce the creation of the unified task force on Saturday.
In a release, the task force said it will, "bring together the major healthcare systems in a unified, metro-wide manner as they coordinate with elected leaders, public health agencies and state and federal agencies."
Dr. Alex Garza, the Chief Medical Officer for SSM Health, will serve as the incident commander for the task force.
The task force said it will work to coordinate and collaborate to ensure the best possible patient care and coordination of supplies, hospital beds and other critical assets.
The task force also will be holding daily briefings to update the region on the ongoing effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. The task force held its first address on Saturday at 10 a.m. It will hold daily briefings at 3 p.m.