Hospitals in Broward County are almost out of beds

As the delta variant of COVID-19 sweeps through Florida, hospitals in Broward are almost out of beds, an unaudited report the county published Tuesday says.

Hospitals across the county as of 11 a.m. reported that 98% of their acute care beds — beds accommodating patients for up to 18-day stays due to severe illness or injury — are now occupied, leaving just 70 of 3,270 such beds available with enough hospital staff available to properly treat patients.

They are entirely out of child intensive care units, of which there are 74, and are at 99% capacity for adult ICUs, with just three of 491 open for use.

Of 4,441 total staffed hospital beds in the county, just 187 are unoccupied, according to the report, which makes clear the true number of available beds “may vary significantly from the number depicted,” as hospitals may be able to add more beds and staff as needed.

Whether the rate at which Broward hospitals can add staff and beds can outpace the rate of COVID-19-positive patients being admitted remains to be seen.

There are 1,683 patients who tested positive for the virus hospitalized in Broward now. Of those, 230 are on ventilators.

COVID-19 patients now account for about half of all ventilators in use in the county.

Of 705 total ventilators Broward hospitals have on hand, 230 remain available.

Statewide, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has dropped for the first time in two weeks, according to data the federal Health and Human Services Department published Sunday.

Raw case totals the Florida Department of Health published Friday indicate positivity rates for the virus may be peaking across Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, with all three counties exhibiting the smallest weekly increases in more than a month.

FDOH reports that 83% of Miami-Dade’s 12-and-up population is now vaccinated, followed by 74% in Broward and 68% in Palm Beach.

But some lawmakers in Tallahassee have called into question FDOH’s claims, pointing to impossibly high vaccination rates in some areas and the agency’s refusal to share certain information.