More BayCare hospitals put non-urgent surgeries on hold
July 13, 2020 - BayCare Health System will begin reducing the number of non-urgent surgeries performed at its hospitals in Hillsborough and Polk counties due to the rising number of severely-ill COVID-19 patients. The temporary policy change starts July 16 at 5 p.m. at all six of BayCare’s Hillsborough hospitals: St. Joseph’s, St. Joseph’s Children’s, St. Joseph’s Women’s in Tampa; St. Joseph’s-North in Lutz; St. Joseph’s-South in Riverview; and South Florida Baptist in Plant City. It also applies to BayCare’s three hospitals in Polk County: Winter Haven, Winter Haven Women’s and Bartow Regional Medical Center. BayCare last week put some non-urgent surgeries at its four Pinellas County hospitals on hold and extended that to Morton Plant North Bay Hospital in Pasco County effective July 13. All surgeries for life-threatening situations will continue to be performed, BayCare said, and BayCare’s Ambulatory Surgery Centers will continue to operate. Hospital bed capacity has declined significantly in the past month due to rising COVID-19 cases, BayCare said. BayCare developed its plan in concert with HCA HealthCare.