ORLANDO, Fla. — AdventHealth is further limiting its elective non-time-sensitive outpatient surgeries as the hospital system continues to deal with “significant and swift” increases in COVID-19 cases in Central Florida.
Hospital officials said Monday that they have 862 people hospitalized with COVID-19. That nears the peak of about 900 the health system saw in January.
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They said the daily positivity rate at AdventHealth Centra Care also remains at near all-time highs.
At Orange County’s COVID-19 briefing on Monday, Dr. Victor Herrera with AdventHealth said capacity is being stretched to its limits, causing the hospital system to move its status to level red.
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Here’s what AdventHealth said that means:
- The hospital is deferring non-time-sensitive elective outpatient surgeries at hospitals throughout the Central Florida division effective Tuesday, July 27.
- Preapproval from campus medical leadership is required for non-time-sensitive/urgent or non-emergent procedures.
- Outpatient surgery sites can continue as scheduled.
- Other procedure sites, such as cath and endoscopy, can continue as scheduled.
- Pediatric surgeries can continue without limitation.
READ: Central Florida sees rise in COVID-19 variant cases, hospitalizations
The hospital system said 94% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 across AdventHealth’s nationwide system are unvaccinated.
Officials said the current hospitalization rate is “not cause for alarm in terms of hospital capacity.”
“Our hospitals are designed in such a way that spaces are flexible and expandable,” officials said in a statement. “AdventHealth has an extensive health care system in place in Central Florida so we can locate patients to the facility that best matches the level of care they need.”
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