Gov. Ron DeSantis, Hospital CEOs Seek to Calm Fears Over Hospital Availability in Florida Amid COVID-19 Increase

Epoch Times ^ | 08/05/2021 | Jannis Falkerstern

[SeekAndFind]

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged Floridians to get medical treatment if they need to, and not be deterred by an increase in hospital cases of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

“Hospitals are open in Florida. People who need medical treatment should not be afraid to go to their local hospital. They will have room for everyone who needs treatment,” DeSantis said on a conference call with the CEOs of several of Florida’s major hospitals.

“We do not want anyone to be unduly alarmed by media coverage and be deterred from seeking medical treatment when they need it.”

DeSantis has been a vocal critic of media coverage on COVID-19, which is caused by the virus, in Florida, saying at a press conference on Monday that media tends to “sensationalize COVID-19 headlines and stories.”

“They rely on the most alarming anecdotes from individuals who work in hospitals without verifying the capacity data, available beds, or providing context about the flexibilities hospitals have to meet their patients’ needs,” he said.

As of Aug. 5, the total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida was 12,888. Last summer the hospitalizations peaked on July 22 with 12,282 beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

On a conference call with the governor on Wednesday, Hospital CEOs stressed that hospitals still have sufficient capacity. They also said that not all patients were suffering from COVID-19 symptoms.

John Couris, President and CEO of Tampa General Hospital, suggested that Floridians “not delay care.”

“The hospitals are ready, and we’re able to take care of patients in a crisis and an emergency,” Couris told the group. “At TGH right now we have 126 COVID patients—we are a 1,041-bed hospital. That’s a little over 10 percent of our beds devoted right now to COVID patients.”

According to HHS data, as of Aug. 5, the state’s hospitals had more than 84 percent of beds occupied. COVID-19 patients accounted for around 25 percent of the occupied beds. The state had over 9,000 hospital beds available, according to the data.

Shane Strum, president and chief executive officer of Broward Health, said four in five patients in his system were not diagnosed with COVID-19.

“Talking about that average age, ours was in the low 70s last time. This time, it’s in the 50s, low 50s,” Strum told the governor Wednesday. “So, you see a big difference there. I think another critical or important number to share with you would be that 80 percent of our patient census is non-COVID patients.”

He added that in North Broward the average length of stay seen in unvaccinated patients being treated for COVID-19 has been 5-7 days.

Nineteen percent of hospitals that responded to a question about staffing on an HHS survey said they were experiencing critical staffing shortages. In July last year, that number was 40 percent among a smaller number of hospitals who answered the question.

According to Carlos Migoya, President and CEO of Jackson Health System in Miami, nearly half of all vaccinated patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized for other causes, but tested positive with zero or mild symptoms. In total, 88 percent of the COVID-19 inpatients in the hospital were unvaccinated. Data shows that at Orlando Health, about 95 percent of COVID-19 inpatients were unvaccinated.

“The two messages here are really obvious: vaccinated people have a lot less potential of getting hospitalized—that’s extremely important,” Migoya said.

Hospitals administrators also say that the main vulnerable population now are the unvaccinated and people aged 40 to 64.

Speaking on the conference call, DeSantis said “about 84-90 percent of our seniors have been vaccinated.”

Petr Svab contributed to this report.

[bluejean]

“As of Aug. 5, the total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida was 12,888...They also said that not all patients were suffering from COVID-19 symptoms.”

Huh? That’s downright odd. They also imply 12,888 people are currently hospitalized. They don’t say if perhaps this is over a period of time - a week, 2 months, 6 months?

Maybe people in the hospital “with Covid” are actually there for another reason and tested positive?

Word games. Fear porn.

[9YearLurker]

Didn’t CDC set the protocol for all unvaccinated hospital patients to be tested for Covid, but only symptomatic vaccinated patients to be tested? And don’t hospitals get a big bonuscfor every Covid positive patient?

Has anyone checked the cycles they are conducting their PCR tests at recently?

[Republican Wildcat]

Saw reports where people were attacking Ron DeSantis as having been “anti-vaccine” - lying their behinds off.

[sten]

Tampa metro... 3.1m people.
we haven’t been locked down for more than a year.

and there’s a total of 126 covid patients?

that’s not a pandemic.

[roving]

They pulled this stunt when covid first came out. Hospitals being over run, yet nurses had time to make videos of themselves dancing all over the country.

https://www.bitchute.com/video/Lz0y3uXs2Lf6/

A compilation of citizen journalist visits to 18 hospitals and test centers in 7 states between June and August 2020, proving that America’s hospitals are empty and there is no pandemic going on

[momincombatboots]

As a bonus, you are likely to get healthcare workers and others because FL is a sanctuary state for those will not be forced to take medical treatment.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

BTTT!

[romanesq]

Highest risk factors with the ChiCom Virus are obesity and diabetes.

The US has disproportionate numbers on both. With seniors mostly vaxed, it’s the middle aged who are seeing the brunt.

DeSantis doesn’t budge for tyranny. 👊🏽🗣🦁
Great.

[mewzilla]

They’ve been doing this along.

Hospitalized with, not for.

And relying on PCR testing as a diagnostic allows them to do this.

Two other tip offs are ICU and ventilator utilization stats, neither of which show FL is maxed out.

Also keep in mind that empty hospital beds cost money, especially ICU beds. So hospital utilization rates having been ticking upwards due to that.

Put simply: Our CoupFlu stats are CRAP.

[McGruff]

Sounding presidential unlike the current resident of that office.

[DataJunkie]

What’s sad about all this propaganda in the ‘new’s is that a lot of elderly don’t have access to outside sources. I had elderly family in another state call recently concerned for our health here in FL because they heard ‘it’ was so bad here. I politely told them to turn off the TV, we are not dropping like flies nor stepping over dead bodies in the streets here. They laughed and said they didn’t believe the news but wanted to confirm from someone living here.
Pushing this fear-porn has absolutely got to stop somehow.

[mewzilla]

Speaking of hispital availability, check out NYS’s. Scroll down at the link for hospital bed and ICU bed availability...

https://forward.ny.gov/early-warning-monitoring-dashboard

Those numbers are jaw dropping.

[Joe Brower]

Florida Freeper

I'm compiling a list of FReepers interested in Florida-related topics.
If you want to be added, please FReepMail me.

[bert]

New York State doesn’t matter. New Yorkers condoned their governors massacre of elderly with Covid

[mewzilla]

Check out the numbers, though.

They’re very low.

Looks to me like folks are still putting off procedures.

The scamdemic will likely kill more people than the coof.

BTW, NYS has goosed their case count through the roof.

Bet they have done the same with the death toll.

After all, who’s gonna be scared of a pandemic that’s not killing a lot of folks.

Every death attributed to CoupFlu should be examined. Complete medical records, death certificates, autopsy reports if any.

States aren’t the only things in need of an audit.

[ro_dreaming]

As of Aug. 5, the total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida was 12,888

To me, in plain language, I would say since the “CoVID-19 crisis” began, they have had a total number of 12,888 people hospitalized with/for CoVID-19.

Now, that could be just from 1/1/21, or more likely, from 1/1/20.

But, I’m not an English major, but I can usually decipher MSM BS well.