Colorado Springs Mayor Suthers to visit UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central for COVID-19 briefing

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO -- Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers will visit UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central on Wednesday morning (Nov. 25) for a tour and briefing by hospital leadership about how COVID-19 has impacted the hospital.

The mayor’s visit comes just one day before Thanksgiving and amid rising case numbers in El Paso County. Per a state mandate, El Paso County on Friday will move from high-risk status (Level Orange) to severe risk (Level Red) on the state’s dial framework in response to high levels of COVID-19 disease transmission, positivity rate and hospitalizations.

“We look forward to the mayor's visit to UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central.  Hospitals across our state are experiencing high volumes of people being treated with COVID-19, and I know our staff will appreciate his visit,” said Joel Yuhas, president of UCHealth Memorial.

As of Tuesday morning, UCHealth’s hospitals in the Pikes Peak region were caring for about 110 patients with COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19 infections.

“To protect our staff and to ensure they are around to care for a growing number of patients – some could be your friends or family – please give serious consideration to how you celebrate Thanksgiving,” said Dr. David Steinbruner, UCHealth Memorial’s chief medical officer.  “These sort of get-togethers can turn into super-spreader events. As we all know, the virus is spreading rapidly in the communities we serve, and we urge Coloradans to wash hands, wear masks, watch their distance from others and avoid gathering with those outside their household.”