Community Medical Center Delays Elective Surgeries In COVID Surge

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The increase in coronavirus cases in the last month is being felt by hospitals across the country, including Community Medical Center, where the hospital has had to postpone elective surgeries for the next two weeks.

"Due to an increased volume of patients, Community Medical Center has rescheduled elective surgeries that could safely be postponed for this week and the following," said Stephani Reynolds, a hospital spokesperson.

The hospital has seen a sharp increase in adult hospitalizations in the last two weeks. Through Jan. 6, 89 percent of the hospital's adult beds were occupied; 28 percent of the adult beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to federal data reported by NPR. Those numbers are up from 72 percent and 16 percent for the last week of December. The average daily number of patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 rose from 69 as of Dec. 30 to 118 as of Jan. 6.

In addition to delaying elective surgeries, the hospital also has reinstated a no-visitors policy for most patients. It does offer the ability for patients and families to be connected through iPads for patients who do not have smartphones or other devices.

The Ocean County Health Department has announced rapidly rising case counts since Dec. 23, averaging more than 1,000 new cases of the virus per day, driven by the omicron variant.

In addition to hospitalizations, there has been an increase in the number of deaths; 74 Ocean County residents have died of complications from COVID-19 since Dec. 23.

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