On Thursday, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) published a data dashboard of current hospital bed availability to provide the public with greater visibility on hospital capacity and census.
This statewide resource is comprised of real-time, self-reported bed availability by all Florida hospitals. The dashboard provides Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Department of Health, healthcare providers and emergency management operators with critical, real-time information to better inform state and local planning and response to the need for more hospital beds as they confront COVID-19 in Florida.
“While the COVID-19 public health crisis is unprecedented, Florida has a strong foundation of emergency preparedness built on government collaboration at all levels—state-level emergency infrastructure to support local responses, state and county public health expertise and resources, and a high-quality, dedicated health system,” said AHCA Sec. Mary Mayhew on Thursday. “Hospitals have been committed to supporting Florida’s Emergency Status System with their real-time updates of bed availability.
“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. 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. Our strong partnership with Florida hospitals in times of emergency will allow for well-coordinated solutions and exchange of information necessary to take every measure to safeguard all Floridians,” Mayhew added.
The dashboard will provide data on hospital bed availability totals, including ICU bed availability, at both the county and hospital level. This information is provided to support emergency operations staff and public and private health care partners in identifying resources in local health care infrastructures that can be used during COVID-19 response in the event of a medical surge.
The Hospital Bed Capacity Dashboard can be found here.
Author
