Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Virus worries hospitals, delays school
Health care workers seek stricter enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions
Some health care professionals say hospitals will reach a crisis point if the government doesn’t crack down more on people who go without masks or gather in big groups.
Aurelio Fernandez, president and CEO of Memorial Healthcare System, urged Broward County commissioners on Thursday to take steps that will alleviate crowding in hospitals.
“I cannot overemphasize the need to follow the masking and social distancing guidelines,” Fernandez said. “We cannot handle much more.”
As of Thursday morning, 16.72% of hospital beds and 9.52% of ICU beds in Broward County were available, according to state records. Memorial Regional Hospital has 18.54% capacity but only 15.07% of ICU beds. Broward Health Medical Center has 4.29% available capacity and 8.7% of ICU
beds available.
Memorial Hospital West and Memorial Hospital Miramar have only 8.13% and 7.8% of beds available, both with zero ICU beds available — with a large portion of patients coming from outside the county, Fernandez said. At the Miramar location, 59% of patients came from Miami-Dade County. Memorial West had 48% of patients from Miami-Dade.
Fernandez said hospitals are using recovery rooms and doubling up patients in private rooms to accommodate more patients.
With the growing pressure on capacity and demand from staff, Fernandez urged commissioners to increase enforcement of mask and social distancing rules. Broward Health President and CEO Gino Santorio echoed Fernandez’s call.
“I ask the commissioners here to enforce the law that you have passed,” Fernandez said. “Utilize the sheriff’s department to find people and disperse large gatherings. That’s the only way we’re going to come to control it.”
Broward County issued its latest emergency order Friday, imposing an 11 p.m. curfew and restrictions on private gatherings.
County Administrator Bertha Henry said enforcement has been focused on businesses and nightlife, rather than issuing individual citations for situations such as not wearing a mask outside in crowded areas.
As of Thursday, the county had issued 943 warnings to businesses but only 85 citations, according to its online dashboard. A total of 486 complaints from the public had been resolved.
When commissioners raised concerns about the lack of masks in crowded outdoor areas, Henry suggested that the county could move to a model like Miami-Dade, which requires people to wear a mask in all public spaces.
Broward County requires masks to be worn outside only if social distancing is not possible, such as at outdoor shopping centers.
“At some point, if we’re still finding that people are not really adhering to the policies, we could enact the policy that MiamiDade has,” Henry said. “That is you walk out the door, irrespective of what the situation is, a mask, you have it. And if you don’t, it’s a civil citation.”
Law enforcement officials said they’ve seen a decrease in calls about house parties since the 11 p.m. curfew was put in place. From Friday until Monday, The Broward County Sheriff’s Office received only a couple dozen complaints about house parties, most involving vacation rentals, said Col. John Hale. At a meeting July 10, Hale reported getting about 1,100 calls.
“We credit that to both the curfew enactment, as well as the enforcement operation that went into place,” Hales said.
The enforcement operation involved assigning more deputies to stop violence and unruly gatherings in central Broward.