TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — In order to free up resources and bed space at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, the hospital is suspending all elective procedures.
"We're still here to provide for the community, there's no doubt about that," said TMH Doctor Dean Watson. "But we're being smart with what we're doing in regards to scheduling because we are running out of space in the hospital because of this significant increase in Covid Activity locally and within the state."
If the procedure requires a patient to stay the night and isn't necessary for survival, those appointments will not be scheduled for the time being, but emergency and life-saving procedures will go on as planned.
Dr. Watson says 29 out of their 30 COVID-19 patients are not vaccinated, putting an important perspective on getting vaccinated.
"This is an unvaccinated pandemic," said Dr. Watson.
TMH isn't the only healthcare provider seeing the troubles of the current increase of COVID-19 cases.
Capital Regional Medical Center released a statement to ABC 27 saying:
"Like many hospitals, we have surge plans in place that allow for expanding our capacity to serve an increased number of patients."
The hospital added that the current situation is very fluid and that July 30 date could get extended if COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise.
