ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are stretching doctors and nurses thin, health care administrators said Wednesday.

What You Need To Know

  • Orlando Health reported 90 new COVID-19 patients Tuesday

  • That added to the hundreds of COVID patients already hospitalized

  • More than 90% of intensive care beds in Florida are in use, federal data shows

  • Nearly 70% of Florida's hospitals could run into staffing shortages soon, FHA reports

Dr. Akinyemi Ajayi, a pediatric pulmonologist for AdventHealth, said he has become busier than ever lately treating children with COVID-19.

“More of the kids that we’re having admitted to the hospital are ending up in the intensive care unit than just a week ago,” Ajayi said.

And it’s not just AdventHealth continuing to see more coronavirus patients.

Orlando Health reported 90 new COVID-19 patients Tuesday, adding to the hundreds of coronavirus patients already hospitalized — including more than 100 in intensive care.

More than 90% of ICU beds in Florida are in use, with about half of them occupied by COVID-19 patients, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services indicated.

“It absolutely is taking its toll physically, mentally,” Florida Hospital Association Chief Executive Officer Mary Mayhew said. “We have nurses that have been at the breaking point, have left the bedside.”

Nearly 70% of hospitals across the state are reporting they will likely run into major staffing shortages in the next week, FHA data showed.

“We have hospitals that have patients on stretchers, in hallways, hospitals that are converting cafeterias, auditoriums to provide patient care,” Mayhew said. “This is extremely unusual.”

If hospitalizations continue to rise, patient care could suffer, Ajayi said.

“We may end up in a situation where we don’t have beds for these kids, and I’m talking about all of the hospitals,” Ajayi said. “So if we end up getting to that situation, what’s going to happen? Kids are going to end up having to get transported to other places or end up being taken care of by people who are not primarily vested in taking care of children.”

While COVID-19 cases are making up as much as half of patients in some hospitals in Florida, health administrators said they’re also seeing a larger number of non-coronavirus related patients. It’s unclear what’s driving that trend, they said, but it is evident that patient load is stretching health-care workers even further.