Lee Health suspends elective procedures as COVID hospitalizations mount

Writer: Derrick Shaw
Published:
Credit: WINK News

Lee Health is temporarily suspending some elective procedures due to the rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

Procedures that require an overnight stay that can be postponed without causing patient harm are being rescheduled or not scheduled. Patients who need an elective outpatient surgery and who will go home the same day are not impacted by this change.

“We understand this decision may be disappointing news for our patients, but it is necessary to safely manage our hospitals at a time when COVID-19 is spreading rapidly throughout our community, placing an extraordinary demand on our ability to manage our hospitals’ bed capacity,” Lee Health said in a statement Wednesday evening.

“We will reevaluate this change when the number of COVID patients begins to decline.”

Lee Health on Wednesday afternoon reported it has 339 COVID-19 patients isolated in its hospitals.

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