Lee Health suspending some elective procedures because of COVID-19 cases

Reporter: Michael Hudak Writer: Derrick Shaw
Published: Updated:
Credit: WINK News.

Lee Health is temporarily suspending some elective procedures to a high census across its hospitals due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

Procedures that require an overnight stay and can be postponed without causing harm are being rescheduled or not scheduled at this time, the hospital system said in an announcement.

Patients who need an elective outpatient surgery and who will go home the same day will not be affected by this change in policy.

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

Here are Lee Health’s COVID-19 numbers for Friday.

  • As of Friday morning, there are 220 COVID-19 patients isolated in Lee Health hospitals (inpatient).
  • Of those patients, six of them are being treated at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida.
  • On Friday morning, the hospital census was at 96% of staffed operational bed capacity.
  • On Thursday, Lee Health emergency departments saw 984 patients. Before the current Omicron surge, emergency departments were averaging about 900 patients per day.
  • On Thursday, Lee Convenient Care saw 482 patients, our LCC locations were averaging about 360 patients per day before the Omicron surge.

Lee TeleHealth is currently free and is an easy alternative to avoid longer than normal wait times at urgent care centers. To access Lee Telehealth, download the Lee Health app or visit www.LeeTelehealth.org.

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