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).

Lee Health also announced it is restricting visitation at Lee Convenient Care sites due to the previously mentioned issues.

Officials said visitors would only be granted access in Lee Convenient Care if they were needed to gather information related to providing care, or in the event of a special circumstance, which is at the discretion of staff.

“Over the last several days, the volume of people in the Lee Convenient Care sites is rising significantly due to COVID-19, and patients may experience longer wait times,” said Lee Health spokesperson Jonathon Little in an email Monday.

For the most up-to-date information on visitation restrictions, visit www.leehealth.org.

By the numbers

As of Tuesday morning, Lee Health had 321 COVID-19 patients isolated in system inpatient hospitals. From Monday to Tuesday morning, Lee Health saw 48 new COVID-19 admissions and 35 discharges.

Census as of Tuesday morning was at 91% of staffed operational bed capacity. 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 Tuesday, 66% of ventilators and 4% of ICU rooms are available for use across Lee Health facilities.

As of Tuesday, there were 29 COVID-19 patients on ventilators and 52 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.