Jacksonville hospitals making changes to meet increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The recent surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations is catching up to local hospitals.

“All of our routine medical care we are providing, routine meaning non-urgent or emergent, has sort of been put on pause to a degree around the city and around the region,” Dr. Chirag Patel with UF Health Jacksonville said.

Action News Jax reported on Sunday that Mayo Clinic hospital is over capacity with all 304 licensed beds taken up and now a surge capacity plan has been activated.

Dr. Patel said UF Health Jacksonville activated its surge plan over a week ago but just as a precaution since it’s not at capacity yet. He says that most hospitals in the region have a plan like this for evaluating resources like ventilators, supply of oxygen, licensed beds, masks, and gowns.

“You need nurses, aids, therapists and physicians to take care of all these patients and none of us are invulnerable from getting ill,” Dr. Patel cautioned. “We get sick too, despite having a vaccine. We can still become ill and you have to be able to account for what happens if your care team goes down.”

Mayo Clinic’s 304 licensed beds are filled and the clinic is now occupying unlicensed beds.

UF Health Jacksonville is licensed for 695 beds between two facilities and is currently at 238 total COVID-19 patients with 56 in the ICU.

Baptist Health is licensed for 1,190 beds across 5 hospitals and has added more than 100 to accommodate the surge. It currently has 507 total COVID-19 patients with 95 in the ICU.

Dr. Patel says the overflow is beginning to affect non-COVID patients.

“When hospitals say they have the capacity to take on patients it doesn’t mean it’s the normal capacity. Every hospital is taking steps to redeploy staff from their home department maybe in their clinic back into the hospital, we are pulling an all hands on deck to really anticipate the needs or even deal with the needs with these extremely ill patients,” Dr. Patel said.

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