OKEECHOBEE – “There were tears in health care this morning,” Raulerson Hospital CEO Brian Melear told the commissioners at their Aug. 26 meeting. He said hospital staff are overworked and exhausted. Even with elective surgeries canceled, the ICU keeps running out of beds.

Last year, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital had eight ICU beds. Melear said the hospital currently has 15 ICU beds. “We have had to create extra areas and work with staff who are less than an expert to deliver the care,” he explained. “It is very challenging and it is very stressful.”

As of Aug. 26, Melear said there are currently 83 patients in the hospital and 43 of them are covid-positive.

He said normally smaller hospitals like Raulerson transfer patients to larger facilities if they need more specialized care. Due to the pandemic, hospitals are struggling statewide. Currently, “if you have conditions we’re not able to take care of locally, it can be extremely difficult to get the care somewhere else,” he said.

He said hospital staff are “having to have very difficult conversations with members of the community to tell them this is not an option.”

Hospital staff are under tremendous stress, he said. “The stress comes from not only an overwhelming challenge but the staff wanting to take care of the community and we feel like we are falling short,” Melear said.

The problem is statewide, he said. “I am on these calls every week. There are shortages everywhere.”

In addition to the shortage of medical staff, he said the state is also dealing with a shortage of oxygen.

“Oxygen is an incredible challenge right now,” said Melear. “COVID-19 is a respiratory illness. Oxygen is one of the life saving resources we use. There is a shortage in Florida. We are trucking in oxygen from other states.”

He said when the states that are currently shipping oxygen to Florida start having the COVID-19 numbers Florida is currently experiencing, that extra oxygen will not be available.

“What can we do?” he continued. “Hand washing is the foundation of infection control. Masking is a powerful tool. Get vaccinated – it is the long term strategy to helping us deal with this issue.” (Melear wore a mask as he gave his report.)

Melear said COVID-19 is a very effective virus and it continues to evolve. “We need to get vaccinated because every time it gets in one of us it has a wonderful environment to continue to evolve,” he said.

The medications being used to treat the virus (some on emergency approval) such as Remdesivir and Regeneron are treatments, he said. “They are not cures.”

Commission Terry Burroughs noted it is ironic that some people have not been vaccinated because they say the vaccines have not yet been approved by the FDA (although the Pfizer vaccine has now been approved), and “when these people get sick, and go in the hospital, there are two drugs that are not FDA approved they give you to get well.”

"From a state view, there are close to 17,000 hospitalized covid patients in the state of Florida currently," Melear said. Statewide about 7,000 hospital beds are open.

"The numbers are scary," he continued. "Seven thousand beds could fill up quickly."

He said Florida hospitals are short 8,000 registered nurses. Turnover of RNs has been about 25%. ICU nurse turnover has been even higher.