Lee Health

Lee Health officials have announced “due to the current capacity and highly contagious nature of the COVID-19 delta variant” they are restricting visitation in emergency room departments until further notice.

Visitors will only be granted emergency room access for compassionate care or if they are needed to gather information related to providing care (allowed in the ED at the discretion of staff).

Officials said patients in the obstetrics ED at HealthPark Medical Center will be allowed to have one visitor. This change to ED visitation is in place at Cape Coral Hospital, Gulf Coast Medical Center, HealthPark Medical Center and Lee Memorial Hospital. At Golisano Children’s Hospital, visitation in the ED will be limited to two support people (parent/guardian/support person).

As of Monday morning, Lee Health had 298 COVID-19 patients isolated in system inpatient hospitals. Over the weekend, Lee Health saw 117 new COVID-19 admissions and 57 discharges.                 

Census as of Monday morning was at 88% of staffed operational bed capacity, with 4.5% of those being COVID-19 patients. Staffed operational capacity reflects the number of beds for which the hospital has adequate staffing, not the total number of beds within Lee Health hospitals. Overall bed capacity fluctuates hour to hour as the system discharges patients throughout the day who are ready to go home.                 

As of Thursday, 70% of ventilators and 11% of ICU rooms are available for use across Lee Health facilities.                 

As of Thursday, there were 22 COVID-19 patients on ventilators and 45 in the intensive care unit.                 

COVID-19 is a highly contagious viral disease. For most individuals, symptoms are mild. For a minority, the disease becomes a type of viral pneumonia with severe complications. Especially at risk are those who are older, those with underlying health conditions and the immune-compromised.                 

With the number of COVID- 19 cases again climbing due, in part, to the latest mutation of the virus, the CDC is recommending that even vaccinated individuals “maximize protection from the Delta variant and possibly spreading it to others” by wearing a mask indoors in public in areas “of substantial or high transmission.”

The CDC also recommends masks for those at high risk of serious illness from COVID, those with compromised immune systems, those who are older, and those with underlying medical conditions.

Vaccination is highly urged.            

For more detail on Florida resident cases, visit the live DOH Dashboard.                 

To find the most up-to-date information and guidance on COVID-19, visit the Department of Health’s dedicated COVID-19 webpage. For information and advisories from the Centers for Disease Control, visit the CDC COVID-19 website. For more information about current travel advisories issued by the U.S. Department of State, visit the travel advisory website.                 

For any other questions related to COVID-19 in Florida, contact the Department’s dedicated COVID-19 Call Center by calling 1-866-779-6121. The Call Center is available 24 hours per day. Inquiries may also be emailed to COVID-19@flhealth.gov.