Fort Lauderdale hospital temporarily closes maternity ward over COVID staffing issues
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Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale has temporarily closed its maternity ward because of COVID-related staffing shortages. This means moms-to-be will have to give birth at another hospital.
“Due to the COVID-19 surge, Holy Cross Health has reached critical staffing levels in Labor and Delivery. In the best interest of patient safety, the Labor and Delivery unit is on diversion until further notice,” the hospital said Monday in an email to the Miami Herald.
“People are out sick due to the surge in COVID cases,” Holy Cross spokeswoman Christine Walker told NBC6.
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Post-Partum departments are still open.
The temporary shutdown of the hospital’s newborn unit comes as Florida continues to see record cases, likely fueled by the more contagious omicron variant, which is now the dominant strain in the U.S.
Long lines have crowded testing sites in Miami-Dade and Broward counties for days, with many waiting hours in line for tests. High demand has also pushed some retailers to set purchase limits on how many at-home COVID test kits people can buy.
Holy Cross Health, like other South Florida hospitals, also announced visitation restrictions last month due to rising COVID-19 cases in the region. As of Dec. 30, the hospital was no longer accepting visitors except on a case-by-case basis for the maternity unit and for patients receiving end-of-life care.
This story was originally published January 3, 2022 at 4:05 PM.
