Florida Department of Health in Polk County will launch a new COVID-19 vaccine hotline on Friday morning for its second round of appointment signups for senior citizens.
Nicole Riley, the health department spokeswoman, said the county s hotline at 863-298-7500 with go live at 8 a.m. Friday for individuals age 65 and older who want to receive the vaccine. There will be approximately 400 appointments available for Wednesday.
Riley said the hotline will be staffed Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. by a combination of Department of Health and Polk County employees in an effort to better handle the volume of anticipated calls.
The diabetic foot ulcer that cost Otis Dahmer one of his little toes began with what appeared to be nothing more than dry, flaking skin.
Not being “much of a moisturizer guy,” Dahmer said, he didn’t give the skin much attention. He kept working on his feet, 10 or 11 hours a day, as a union electrician on an out-of-state job.
He later noticed an open spot, like a sore, wasn’t healing.
Dahmer, (pronounced day-mer), figured the location made it hard to heal, His feet aren’t too sensitive to pain, so he put off seeing a doctor.
“I probably went three weeks, until I couldn’t walk on it anymore,” he said.
Your Health: News in the Polk medical community
The Ledger
WATSON CLINIC
Kathleen Haggerty, M.D., a board-certified internal medicine specialist at Watson Clinic Main, 1600 Lakeland Hills Blvd. in Lakeland, has established a post-COVID clinic to address the lingering symptoms faced by many patients in the aftermath of their infection. Ongoing research has shown that these prolonged side effects often include fatigue, dizziness, chest heaviness, brain fog, malaise, poor concentration and nausea. 863-680-7190, www.WatsonClinic.com/Haggerty.
BAYCARE MEDICAL GROUP
Misty Holland was named vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer for the Polk region, which encompasses Bartow Regional Medical Center, Winter Haven Hospital and Winter Haven Women’s Hospital. Holland joined BayCare in September 2017 as the director of patient care at BRMC. In recent months, she filled that same role at Winter Haven Women’s Hospital. Holland received a Bachelor of Science degr
The December deluge of COVID-19 infections for Polk County continued with Monday’s report of 286 newly confirmed cases.
The Florida Department of Health released that figure in its Monday afternoon update, reflecting tests processed the previous day. Polk County has exceeded 200 new infections every day during December except for Christmas Day, according the state agency’s data.
Meanwhile, the positive testing rate for Polk County continues to rise. Monday’s update reported a 14.6% positive rate for tests processed on Sunday, well above the 10% threshold the Department of Health has set as necessary to limit community spread of the virus.
That followed a rate of 13.51% for the update from Sunday. Polk County has exceeded the 10% rate on all but four of the past 14 days and has surpassed 9.5% on every one.
Magee said the hospital received several thousand doses of Moderna s vaccine, but did not have an exact number. He said BayCare hoped to administer vaccine to 500 to 1,000 employees daily on Tuesday and Wednesday. It is completely voluntary, he said. We are encouraging people to consider it, but it is certainly their choice.
Top priority for vaccination will be given to frontline workers in Winter Haven Hospital s emergency rooms and intensive care units, according to Magee, alongside support staff who serve those areas. BayCare also will administer the vaccine to employees of Bartow Regional Medical Center in Winter Haven.
Magee said Winter Haven Hospital is the first out of all Baycare s sites to receive a shipment from Moderna. Once receiving additional supplies, he health care provider had plans to open vaccination clinics in three locations for its employees: one at its administrative offices in Pinellas County, one in Tampa and another Winter Haven Hospit