More Than 75 Percent Of Adult ICU Beds Occupied In Florida
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - Fewer than one in four hospital adult intensive-care unit beds statewide are empty, according to data updated Wednesday by the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
Florida had 6,006 adult ICU beds as of Wednesday, with 1,409 available. The issue has drawn attention as hospitals treat patients with COVID-19, which is particularly dangerous to seniors and can require treatment in intensive-care units.
The availability of adult ICU beds varies by county. Rural Jackson County, for example, has only six adult ICU beds, and five were available Wednesday.
Meanwhile, St Lucie County had just 8.89 percent of its 90 adult ICU beds available, the lowest percentage in the state. In COVID-19 hotspot areas, Palm Beach County had 73 of its 406 adult ICU beds available, meaning that 82 percent were occupied. Miami-Dade County had 980 adult ICU beds, with 240 of them, or about 24 percent, available.
It was a similar story in neighboring Broward County, where 24 percent of the 478 ICU beds were available.
Rates were lower in some other large urban counties, including in Pinellas County, where 15 percent of the 326 beds were open.
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