Cleveland Clinic Florida postpones non-urgent surgeries as COVID surges, visits limited
Cleveland Clinic is postponing all non-urgent surgeries that require an overnight stay at all of its Florida hospitals, including its Weston campus, to help make room for ill patients and alleviate a strained workforce that is in the midst of a staffing shortage.
Hospitals affected by this change include: Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Martin South Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital.
At this time, surgeries and procedures at its outpatient surgery or endoscopy centers will not be postponed, Cleveland Clinic Florida said Thursday. Cleveland Clinic has outpatient centers in Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties.
“Our hospital has seen an increase in the number of patients admitted into the hospital with COVID-19. We have also seen many of our caregivers out because of an acute COVID illness,” said Dr. Scott Ross, chief medical officer at Cleveland Clinic Weston, in an emailed statement to the Miami Herald. “Given these two observations, in addition to the overall strain on the healthcare workforce over the last 18 months, we felt it important to take this proactive step to ensure appropriate resources and staffing for those patients who require emergent hospital care.”
Cleveland Clinic is one of the first hospitals in South Florida to temporarily pause some of its services due to the surging number of COVID-19 cases, owing to the highly contagious omicron variant. At Baptist Health of South Florida, some medical procedures are being rescheduled on a case-by-case basis.
Baptist may reschedule some procedures
“Elective surgeries and procedures at our facilities are being evaluated daily based on the capacity of each facility,” Baptist Health said in a statement. “We will communicate directly with any patient whose surgery or procedure may need to be rescheduled. If you have questions about an upcoming surgery, please call your physician.”
While statewide hospitalizations haven’t hit levels seen during delta, with many patients being admitted to the hospital for another medical reason, the omicron variant has fueled record cases, including among hospital workers.
Earlier this week, Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale temporarily closed its maternity ward due to COVID-related staffing shortages. Cleveland Clinic Florida said its hospitals and emergency departments are still open and that it plans to “evaluate and refine our approach to non-urgent procedures over the duration of the pandemic.”
Hospitals limit visitations during Florida’s COVID-19 surge
Cleveland Clinic also announced it would be limiting visitations at all of its facilities, which are being upgraded to “level red.”
Part of the new changes: Only one visitor per day can visit patients in the emergency department, as well as inpatients, regardless if the patient has tested positive or negative, according to Cleveland Clinic’s website. The visitor does not have to be the same person every day (previously inpatients had to designate one person to visit them throughout their entire hospital stay). However, they must be at least 18 and are required to wear a mask at all times, pass a COVID-19 health screening and sanitize their hands upon arrival. Complete guidelines can be found on the hospital’s website. Visitation hours remain 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
“Visiting with loved ones is important to our patients. While we continue to manage high numbers of patients in our facilities, we have protocols in place that allow more individuals to visit, while still protecting our patients and caregivers,” Cleveland Clinic Florida said.
Other hospitals have stricter visitation policies in place. Starting Friday, Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach will no longer be allowing visitors at its medical center or physician office locations. Other hospitals only allow certain patients that don’t have a confirmed or suspected COVID diagnosis to get visitors. Some, like Hollywood-based Memorial Healthcare System, for example, have made exceptions for “end of life” patients, while Broward Health, the public hospital in Broward, has exceptions for pediatric patients and for patients during labor and postpartum.
Other South Florida hospitals that have recently made changes to their visitation policies include Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale, Broward Health, Baptist Health (rules vary by location) and Jackson Health System, Miami-Dade’s public hospital system.
Miami Herald staff writer Daniel Chang contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 5:01 PM.
