The Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida, on Jan. 11 was treating 80 COVID-19 patients — a tenfold increase since late December. Nearly half were admitted for other medical reasons.
The surge driven by the extremely infectious omicron variant helped push the South Florida hospital with 206 licensed beds to 250 patients. The rise in cases came as the hospital struggled with severe staff shortages while nurses and other caregivers were out with COVID-19.
The challenge is finding room to safely treat all the COVID-19 patients while keeping staffers and the rest of patients safe, said Dr. Scott Ross, chief medical officer.
