BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — The count of area “pediatric” ICU beds at area hospitals is low, according to “Florida’s Community Coronavirus Dashboard” which reports realtime ICU bed availability from hospitals across the state.
While not a cause for panic, it is a notable metric as Palm Beach County reported a 29.1 percent positive rate for children under age 18 on Saturday. That percent positive is exceptionally high.
The count reveals just 8 pediatric ICU beds among the major hospitals in South Palm Beach County, with 3 hospitals showing no ICU bed availability designated for pediatric cases.
Pediatric ICU Bed Count Availability As Of 4 p.m. Sunday, July 5, 2020:
Bethesda Hospital East: 3 pediatric ICU beds.
Bethesda Hospital West: 0 pediatric ICU beds.
Boca Raton Regional Hospital: 0 pediatric ICU beds.
Delray Beach Medical Center: 0 pediatric ICU beds.
West Boca Medical Center: 5 pediatric ICU beds.
The Florida Community Coronavirus Dashboard is maintained by Rebekah Jones. Jones was Florida’s lead data scientist until she was fired by Governor Ron DeSantis who publicly stated she wasn’t following orders. Jones say the “order” was to suppress COVID-19 data. Jones has raised more than $200,000 through GoFundMe for the dashboard.
BocaNewsNow.com asked a major hospital chain if Jones’ hospital reporting is inaccurate. A senior hospital representative could not point to flaws in the data.
