Emergencies “extremely busy”, but hospitals not at their maximum capacity

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Baptist Health Jacksonville clarifies an alert posted Thursday on its official social media accounts, saying its hospitals and emergency rooms have not reached their maximum capacity.

A Baptist Health spokesperson released a statement via email and social media later Thursday, saying the statements made in the original posts were not accurate. The statement attributed the confusion to an “error” and said the intent of the messages was to let the public know they can expect longer emergency room wait times.

“We sincerely apologize for the error in our recent social media post regarding our emergency room capacity. Our intention was to make it clear that our emergency rooms are extremely busy due to the COVID-19 outbreak and that you may experience longer than normal wait times, ”the clarification partially states.

(READ: See full statement below.)

The source of the confusion was a series of social media posts made early Thursday afternoon. The messages, which appeared to indicate that Baptist hospitals and emergency rooms had reached their maximum capacity, painted a dire picture of the situation at facilities in the health care system.

A d

“As we respond to the unvaccinated COVID-19 crisis in our community, hospitals are at capacity and our emergency centers have reached a critical point. We are asking the community to do what they can to help, ”read the first of a thread of five tweets.

“Our hospitals and emergency rooms are at full capacity,” reads the large text on a graphic accompanying the original tweet.

The tweets remained online for over an hour before being deleted without immediate explanation. News4Jax has requested an explanation by phone and email. In response, Baptist Health sent a clarification to dispel the confusion.

An update posted to Twitter earlier today reported that Baptist had 433 COVID-19 patients, 91 of them in the intensive care unit. Fifteen of these patients are at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, including four in intensive care.

Baptist Health full statement:

“We sincerely apologize for the error in our recent social media post regarding our emergency room capacity. Our intention was to convey that our emergency rooms are extremely busy and that you may experience longer than normal wait times.

A d

“A patient with a real emergency such as a heart attack or stroke will be seen right away. A person with a less critical condition may experience a longer wait time, depending on the number of patients in the facility and their needs. If people are having an emergency, they should get to an emergency as soon as possible. Wait times also change throughout the day at each of our 9 branches.

“If you are having a minor health problem, please consider going to your primary care office. If you want a COVID-19 test, there are several free sites listed below. If you don’t have a primary care doctor, please call 202.4YOU (202.4968), and we can help you find a doctor in your area.

“We apologize to anyone who has experienced an unusually long wait at one of our emergency centers. We first take care of patients in critical emergency situations. Additionally, with the increase in emergency room visits due to the COVID-19 outbreak, our wait times are higher than usual. “