TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In the run-up to the nation's spiking COVID-19 cases, health experts urged leaders to consider hospital bed capacity -- and what to do should they reach a breaking point.
Florida, while not out of the woods by any stretch, as a whole appears satisfactory with 43 percent available capacity, according to data published late Monday, April 13, by the Agency for Health Care Administration.
It reports there is a capacity of 59,286 beds, and 33,858 are in use -- 25,428 beds remain.
The agency's data shows not all counties are equal. Counties hardest-hit by the coronavirus, such as Broward and Miami-Dade, hover near 40 percent capacity but have the greatest number of beds in the state.
Hardee County reports only 25 hospital beds, and all but three are in use. The Florida Department of Health shows two non-Florida residents have been hospitalized there. Franklin County, one of the least populated in the state, has 15 beds and none are in use.
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The data above was updated Monday, April 13. Click or tap here for the agency's real-time dashboard.
Hospital data shows there is 37 percent adult ICU available, and 44 percent pediatric ICU available.
A model by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and cited by the White House Coronavirus Task Force shows the state's coronavirus peak resource use won't arrive until early May. That model, which assumes full social distancing orders, has been fluctuating as new information comes into it.
For example, last week, the model projected Florida's peak would come April 21 but it since has slipped back.
The model shows Florida is not likely to have a shortage of hospital beds or ICU beds, though there could be a shortage of nearly 1,000 ventilators. The state's Agency for Health Care Administration's dashboard does not show a ventilator count.
The agency hopes Gov. Ron DeSantis and health care officials from the state and local levels use the dashboard to help make informed decisions.
"As we are ensuring every proactive step is taken to equip and resource our hospitals and health care facilities throughout this public health emergency, this publicly reported data will be a critical statewide resource for anticipating individual hospital needs and monitoring bed availability across Florida," it said in a news release. "Hospital admissions and discharges are a fluid situation, and the reporting of bed availability and census will help inform emergency management decisions and coordinated local and statewide response in the event of hospital surge scenarios."
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