A former popular retail site in west Broward is now home to a new state of the art cancer center.

A dominant COVID variant has led to a rise in new cases.

Newborn babies in need of intensive medical care were among the Hurricane Ian victims who have been transferred to South Florida hospitals after the Category 4 storm.

Warworn nurses want the unvaccinated and the opponents of face masks to reconsider their positions. This month, veteran intensive care unit nurses and doctors in South Florida have had to regularly notify families that their loved ones have become a casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.

Some hospitals in South Florida are requiring all staff to be vaccinated.

Baptist Health South Florida in Miami-Dade County and the Memorial Healthcare System in Broward County joined the growing list of organizations that are implementing vaccine mandates.

Throughout the 18 months of the pandemic, hospitals have faced a competitive labor market, but the new rise of COVID hospitalizations is testing South Florida hospitals facing a critical shortage of intensive care unit staff.

Memorial Healthcare System is having to make tough choices as they face a strain on resources due to the influx of COVID-19 patients.

Jackson Health in Miami-Dade has seen a 210% increase in COVID-19 patients since the start of the month. Memorial Healthcare System in Broward is experiencing a 225% jump.

Broward Health’s chief medical officer says the hospital has seen “a slow wave” of patients, many between the ages of 25 and 44, needing to be admitted with COVID-19.

Gessy Beauzil-Edouard has worked for the Memorial Healthcare System for more than two decades. The 51-year-old intensive care unit nurse said she had never experienced anything like the coronavirus pandemic.

Davalos said he doesn’t have an underlying health condition. He was asked if he had a doctor’s note but said he didn’t. AdThe couple was at the vaccine site Tuesday with their daughter, who turns 15 months old Wednesday. “We thought if they ask for the doctor’s note we will go back home, but we wanted to take the risk because we think it is worth it,” Lopez said. AdOn Monday, the Jackson Health System separately announced that it would expand access to vaccines and not require documentation for people who affirm they have a high-risk condition.

More Floridians are now eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines. Here is what you need to know about whether you can get a dose.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – The Memorial Healthcare System announced Wednesday that it has received its first batch of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and is currently scheduling appointments for medical professionals and those who are 65 or older. The Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine is also still being offered by the health system, while supplies last. Below are the vaccination sites and hours that currently open for appointments:Memorial Specialty Pharmacy, 9581 Premier Parkway, Miramar. RELATED LINKS:Where are the Broward County COVID-19 vaccination sites? Before you go: Download and fill out COVID-19 vaccine consent forms

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – The Memorial Healthcare System is extending its COVID-19 vaccination rollout to those 65 and older. The health system is not yet accepting appointments for those younger than 65 with underlying conditions or those who are immunocompromised. Memorial Healthcare continues to offer vaccinations to its employees and community licensed healthcare professionals, regardless of age or hospital affiliation. The health system’s expansion of its vaccination plan comes on the heels of Jackson Health System’s announced plan of a new online platform this week for Miami-Dade seniors 65 and older to secure vaccine appointments. · Those who have not been a prior patient at Memorial Healthcare may call the health system’s Centralized Scheduling by dialing 954-276-4340 Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The hospital has elected to take doses from its allocation to vaccinate people 75 years or older while also immunizing frontline healthcare workers. Memorial Healthcare System: They have received only the initial Pfizer allocation to inoculate its healthcare workers and the healthcare workers at five additional hospitals throughout Broward. Broward Health: COVID-19 vaccinations are only available to the hospital’s healthcare providers at this time. We have vaccinated approximately 3,900 frontline healthcare workers since we began vaccinations, on Dec. 16. Additionally, upcoming dose allocations are still pegged to frontline healthcare workers who need the second dose of the vaccine.

His response showed just how much it means for these frontline medical workers to start receiving some measure of defense against the coronavirus. Kumar, a critical care and pulmonary care physician, was the first Broward Health employee to be vaccinated, as the hospital began administering shots just after noon Thursday. The vaccine doses arrived at Broward Health to cheers and applause through the hallways of the hospital earlier Thursday morning as they made their way toward the pharmacy. Doses of the COVID-19 vaccine arrive at Broward Health in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, Dec. 17. The shots manufactured by Pfizer were distributed to Broward Health from Memorial Healthcare System.

MIRAMAR, Fla. – Tuesday marks Day 2 of COVID-19 vaccinations for Memorial Healthcare System frontline workers, with the hospital saying it can inoculate 120 staff members each hour. Nearly 20,000 doses of the new coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer arrived Monday morning to the Memorial Healthcare System in Broward. The packages of vials are carefully placed into extra-cold deep freezers where they wait to be administered to critical care workers. I didnt’ even feel it at all.”Memorial Healthcare System says it anticipates vaccinating half of its employees and donating any unused vials to community hospitals and partners. ALSO SEE: Coronavirus vaccine ‘pods’ being planned in Florida as healthcare workers get 1st shots

We asked Dr. Aileen Marty that question on Local 10′s “This Week in South Florida” on Sunday, noting that the development and testing periods for vaccines generally take far longer than the sped-up process for the coronavirus shots. Marty, an infectious diseases expert at Florida International University, explained that the two-month observation period of people who took the COVID-19 vaccines in clinical trials is a time period in which side effects would normally present themselves for a vaccination. The study is a two-month study of the numbers of people who had received two doses and had gone beyond their seven days post-vaccination, and that’s where the comparison was. “Whereas that could be something that we would worry about, the reality is that when we see side-effects from vaccines, we generally see anything significant within the first two months. Watch the full “This Week in South Florida” segment with Dr. Marty below:

Memorial Health staff carefully unpacked the boxes and slowly placed the vaccines inside several specialized freezers. Dr. Paula Eckardt, a specialist in infectious diseases at Memorial Health, took off her white coat. The inoculations at the new Memorial Health vaccination center began after a 2 p.m. news conference. Memorial Health is one of five systems that will continue to receive supplies of the vaccine in Florida. Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami-Dade County will receive the first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine’s first dose on Tuesday.

“Relieved,” proclaimed critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay after becoming one of the first to be inoculated at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York. “I feel like healing is coming.”With a countdown of “3-2-1,” workers at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center gave initial injections to applause. It just represents a moral failing,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, a public health researcher at Johns Hopkins. Getting vaccinated is “a privilege,” said Dr. Leonardo Seoane, chief academic officer at Ochsner Health in suburban New Orleans, after getting his dose. And later this week, the FDA will decide whether to green-light the world’s second rigorously studied COVID-19 vaccine, made by Moderna Inc.

MIAMI, Fla. – Another surge in COVID-19 cases in South Florida and the number of hospitalizations is also on the rise. Healthcare workers are overwhelmed and hospital officials are saying that the area hasn’t seen the worst of it. “We cannot afford to get to the kinds of numbers we had in South Florida back in July,” he said. Hospital CEOs said that even field hospitals like those previously set up don’t help if there aren’t enough workers to staff them. This past summer, South Florida was a hot spot for COVID-19 and hospitals had millions of dollars from the state to bring in traveling nurses.

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade County will be rolling out a new public awareness campaign titled “We Can, We Will” to emphasize the need for the public to do its part to get through a tough upcoming stretch in the COVID-19 pandemic. That was revealed during a virtual news conference Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava held Friday along with several other local government and medical leaders. Medical experts said the expected virus surge from Thanksgiving travel likely hasn’t hit us yet, but they say it is coming and could intensify after Christmas. To get through the coming month, they are imploring residents to avoid indoor gatherings, wear masks and wash their hands. ALSO SEEFlorida reports 10,870 more coronavirus cases Thursday, most since late JulyFlu shots critical to avoiding ‘twindemic’ with COVID-19

AVENTURA, Fla. – Local hospitals are watching and waiting on a some key things to happen with the COVID-19 vaccine. Specialized super freezers are set to go at Jackson Health, where the vaccine will be securely stored. “I believe it holds roughly 200,000 doses of vaccine,” Tom Macaluso, M.D., vice president and chief quality officer at Memorial Healthcare System and the Chief Medical Officer for the Memorial Health Network in Hollywood, said. “We’re ready to begin vaccinations around Dec. 15 if we have the supply on hand,” he said. Distribution, however, all hinges on Dec. 10 when the FDA decides if any of the vaccines will get the go ahead.

MIAMI – The Jackson Health System in Miami will be one of the first recipients provided the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. We expect to receive a limited supply of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in mid-December and are prepared with the proper storage to begin immediate distribution,” wrote spokesperson Lidia Amoretti in a statement emailed to Local 10 News. “Memorial Healthcare System is prepared to receive and properly store the COVID-19 vaccines and will follow the guidance of the CDC to administer the vaccines,” spokesperson Kerting Baldwin told Local 10 News in an email. “The initial data and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines are encouraging, yet they are not the whole story. “I think that equally as important as the vaccine availability and our community, especially those at risk taking the vaccine, is to continue to be safe,” said Dr. Aharon Sareli, chief of critical care medicine for Memorial Healthcare System.

If you go back in April we were at a maximum of 189 patients, so weve almost tripled, he said. Memorial attributes their high numbers to the patients theyve gotten who are from Miami-Dade County, which has had more COVID-19 cases than any other county in the state. New test sites openBroward Countys three new federally funded COVID-19 testing sites opened Friday, with swabbing getting underway at 8 a.m. The new sites in Broward are at Fort Lauderdales Dillard High School (2501 NW 11th St.), Pompano Beachs Blanche Ely High School (1201 NW 6th Ave.) and Hollywoods McArthur High School (6501 Hollywood Blvd.). In Broward the added testing comes as leaders continue to discuss code enforcement and other measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. South Florida hospitals emergency rooms are stretched thin on Friday as physicians face daunting challenges during the coronavirus pandemic. Both Jackson Health System in Miami-Dade County and Memorial Healthcare System in Broward County have been forced to increased intensive care unit capacity. Dr. Randy Katz, the head of Memorial Healthcare Systems emergency services, said typically his staff treats about 300 patients daily and now they are seeing about 450. Jackson Health System reported treating 445 COVID-19 patients and a shortage of remdesivir, an antiviral medication approved to treat COVID-19. The white house is accelerating more remdesivir to the state of Florida, DeSantis said.

Most emergency rooms in South Florida are already feeling the impact of a surge in coronavirus patients. With COVID-19 cases rising, the space in intensive care units is dropping, and staffing is becoming a concern, too. Every hospital in South Florida with an emergency room appears to have had its fair share of sick patients hit with the novel coronavirus. Some of the major hospitals in the area believe they could be at capacity by the end of the month. Also on Tuesday, Memorial Healthcare System announced that it will halt elective, non-urgent and non-emergency procedures as of Wednesday.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. In memory of George Floyd and countless others, healthcare workers at all six Memorial Healthcare System hospitals simultaneously held a unity prayer Monday to inspire peace and solidarity in what they call a time of social unrest. Local religious leaders joined dozens of Memorial Healthcare workers who came together and bowed their heads. The prayer was lives streamed inside for any staff or patients who werent able to make it outside to join. In a separate show of solidarity, staff, faculty and students gathered Monday afternoon at the University of Miamis Miller School of Medicine. UM health system leaders and the universitys president spoke, and the group took a knee for 8 minutes, 46 seconds to recognize George Floyd.

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Family, friends and colleagues of a beloved elementary school teacher are hoping for a miracle for Stefanie Miller. But at Memorial West, where Miller is being treated, the hospital is not one that was selected by the federal government or Gilead to give her the drug. Memorial West was not one of the hospitals chosen by the federal government or Gilead. Memorial Regional in Hollywood, is one of them, but not Memorial West. Miller, a second-grade teacher at Fox Trail Elementary in Davie, was working from her hospital bed up until recently.

Kristi Krueger has built a solid reputation as an award-winning medical reporter and effervescent anchor. She joined Local 10 in August 1993. After many years co-anchoring the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., Kristi now co-anchors the noon newscasts, giving her more time in the evening with her family.