FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Broward Health’s chief medical officer said his four hospitals are facing a double wave of patients and it has been particularly difficult.

This is a spike in both unvaccinated COVID patients and others who have postponed surgeries during the pandemic.

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Dr Joshua Lenchus told Peter D’Oench of CBS4: “Last year we really asked people not to forgo medical care and they came to this hospital when they needed help. Now they are coming here in droves. What is happening is that this wave of mostly unvaccinated people coming to the hospital with COVID is increasing and really tapping our resources. “

Dr Lenchus said there are at least 325 COVID patients at Broward Health and 97% are unvaccinated.

“We are concerned about the increase in cases of people requiring hospitalization,” he said. “The nurses and doctors caring for these people are at their wit’s end and they’ve passed the burnout stage months ago and it’s really disheartening to know that in the last eight months , we had a vaccine and people don’t want or just decide not to get the vaccines.

There has also been an increase in the number of pediatric patients with COVID.

Dr Chad Perlyn, pediatrician at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, said: “This is an indicator that it can really affect children and something that our community needs to understand. About 10% of our admissions are for COVID reasons. We don’t see the same problem as some adult hospitals which are quite full. “

In the seven hospitals of the Jackson Health System, there are 363 COVID patients. Thirty-seven of them are vaccinated, a rate of 10.2%.

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Doctors who spoke to CBS4 told CBS4 that they are motivated to help their patients and that it helps them cope with the stress of dealing with the influx of patients.

Dr Leopoldo Arosemena, who has been at Jackson Memorial Hospital for over two decades, said, “You take it just one day at a time. You go through the basics and wear your mask and put on your PPE and you see your patients. You are trained to deal with disease and this is a new disease. We are doing our best to fight the car with whatever weapons we have. We are asking people to take special measures and get vaccinated and this will prevent them from passing it on to their loved ones. “

He said, “This is a job where we don’t do it for the money. We do it because we love it. You cannot pay enough to do what we are doing right now. I do what I can. When I treat people, I feel very happy. When things are not going well I feel very sad, but I take it day by day.

He added: “We have seen a lot of people without vaccines who contract COVID and die. Even if you are vaccinated, it does not mean you are home free. You need to take other action. The Delta variant is a clear game-changer. It’s more aggressive. “

Dr Phillipe Abreu said: “It is not easy with this pandemic. It’s been over a year now. But we must continue to fight. We have a lot of people to look after. Get the vaccine. It is our only hope. Get vaccinated.

Doctors, nurses and employees are so stressed that the demand for help from social services has more than doubled since before the start of the pandemic.

Tala Teymour is associate vice president of human resources and in charge of total compensation and human well-being.

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She said: “We offer virtual programs, yoga and meditation. We also have onsite services if it works for them. We have wellness Wednesdays where we have programs and different wellness things and activities. We also have massage therapies.