Pinellas hospitals plan for uptick of COVID-19 patients from elder-care centers - Tampa Bay Times

As elderly Pinellas residents continue to die from COVID-19, hospitals across the county are preparing for a possible surge of patients from elder-care centers, officials said.

The coordinated effort comes as another seven patients were evacuated late Thursday and nine on Friday from St. Mark Village in Palm Harbor to AdventHealth North Pinellas Hospital in Tarpon Springs. The first resident tied to St. Mark Village died from the virus on Thursday.

That brings to more than 115 the total number of patients evacuated in the past 10 days from Freedom Square in Seminole and St. Mark Village.

Pinellas County has not experienced a surge as large as other communities across the country. Weeks ago, AdventHealth North Pinellas Hospital created a 34-bed COVID-19 unit to prepare for the worst. The hospital is now using those beds for patients evacuated from nursing homes.

“We were preparing for the worst,” Jason Dunkel, AdventHealth North Pinellas president and CEO, told the Tampa Bay Times. “The good news is that surge didn’t come. We’re working with nursing home management directly in our area in planning for this.”

Pinellas County administrator Barry Burton said that more than 1,000 hospital beds were available across the county on Friday. The county is working with all hospitals and monitoring nursing homes, he said adding: “We’re making sure everyone has what they need.”

Workers wear masks and carry medical supplies into a building at Freedom Square of Seminole. The Florida National Guard began testing residents and employees at the sprawling campus on Friday. [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times]

At least eight residents have died and 95 patients have been evacuated from the Seminole Pavilion Rehabilitation nursing home, part of the sprawling Freedom Square retirement community. At least 12 have been evacuated since Monday from St. Mark Village.

Related: Sixth and seventh COVID-19 deaths tied to Seminole nursing home outbreak

The latest deaths were of a 95-year-old St. Mark Village resident and 92-year-old Freedom Square resident, according to the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner’s Office. They died within eight hours of each other.

To help quell outbreaks, the Florida National Guard arrived Friday to conduct COVID-19 tests at Freedom Square and St. Mark Village, officials said.

Alberto Moscoso, spokesman for the Florida Department of Health, could not share information about the tests, but he said testing was made available to all residents and employees, even those who showed no virus symptoms.

Doug Fresh, chief executive at St. Mark Village, said said state officials recommended transferring patients on Friday to clear the center of all who had tested positive for the virus, adding that 23 patients and eight employees tested positive.

Of the 34 beds in the COVID-19 unit at AdventHealth North Pinellas Hospital, 10 were occupied Friday by residents from nursing homes, including St. Mark Village, Dunkel said. The hospital is prepared to treat the patients who have significant health risks and require more resources than the average COVID-19 patient, he said.

Among the challenges is the anticipated length of their stay. And a future challenge will be “our daily routine as we prepare to reopen and start elective surgeries again once the governor says we are able to so,” he added.

Bayfront Health in St. Petersburg also has at least 23 COVID-19 patients from nursing homes, said spokesman David Larrick. A majority do not require hospital care, and the hospital is “working with the county and the state while placements in an appropriate care setting are identified,” he said.

Meanwhile, Freedom Square issued an apology on Friday after families complained that executive director Michael Mason was praising himself in daily updates. One accolade about Mason said, "I don’t think anyone else could do a better job in this very serious situation.”

“We can see how it may have appeared insensitive," a statement said, "and we apologize to our residents and families.”

Times staff writers Kathryn Varn and Caitlin Johnston contributed to this report.

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