COVID: In Florida hospitals, ‘there are only so many beds’

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida hospital chain is suspending elective surgeries and putting beds in conference rooms, an auditorium and even a cafeteria as many more patients seek treatment for COVID-19. Memorial Healthcare System’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Marc Napp says they’re seeing “a surge like we’ve not seen before.” Memorial has added 250 beds at its six hospitals in Broward County. Napp says more than 1,600 patients are in the hospital system, the “highest number of patients Memorial has ever seen.” Across Florida, more than 12,000 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Wednesday, and nearly 2,500 of them were in ICU beds. Florida’s pandemic death toll tops 39,000.