Cops Corner

AdventHealth resumes normal operations as COVID cases drop

Doctors urge vaccinations and masks to keep trends headed in the right direction.

ADVENTHEALTH

CENTRAL FLORIDA DIVISION CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized across AdventHealth’s Central Florida system remained on a downward slope last week to about 850 as the hospital transitioned back to normal operations or “Green Status.” “I think it’s really important our patients understand we are now business as usual,” said Dr. Neil Finkler, chief clinical officer for AdventHealth’s Central Florida Division, at the Sept. 16 AdventHealth Morning Briefing. “We understand that COVID will be with us and we are going to need to understand how to care for COVID patients while we also care for others that need care in our community.”

Finkler cautioned that the pandemic is not over and the number of patients is now at about the same level the health care system saw during the January peak. He said the community continues to need higher vaccination rates and safety precautions such as masks and frequent handwashing.

The move to “Green Status” is a reflection of AdventHealth’s continued learnings and improved efficiency at flexing its staff, space and equipment and supplies to adjust to virus levels.

The rate of positive virus tests at Centra Care, the health care system’s urgent care clinics, also dropped this week to 12.5%, about half of the figure from about six weeks ago at the height of the Delta variant surge, said Dr. Tim Hendrix, senior medical director for Centra Care.

He also said he’s seen an increased demand for the vaccine as a result of the Delta surge because more people are experiencing the severe illness or death of a loved one.

The vast majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients continue to be unvaccinated, Finkler said.

Dr. Neil Finkler

Plantation Bay and Hunter’s Ridge changes approved

The 73-unit additional to Plantation Bay would have a density of 3.16 units per acre.

JONATHAN SIMMONS

NEWS EDITOR

Flagler County commissioners on Sept. 20 unanimously approved a site development plan for a 73-unit single-family-home community in western Plantation Bay.

The 40-acre development would have a density of 3.16 units per acre. Lots would be at least 50 feet wide and at least 6,500 square feet each. The community, off Stirling Bridge Drive, will be linked to U.S. 1 through an extension to Bay Drive, now under construction now.

HUNTER’S RIDGE PHASING PLAN ELIMINATED

A new amendment to plans for the Hunter’s Ridge development in unincorporated southern Flagler County eliminates phasing for the project and slightly alters development requirements.

The Flagler County Commission voted unanimously to approve the Development of Regional Impact amendment, this development’s fifth, at a meeting on Sept. 20.

The elimination of the phased approach is the biggest change, Flagler County Growth Management Director Adam Mengel said, and the alterations aren’t substantial enough to require review by state agencies.

The amendment also deletes a requirement for a public access easement on Durrance/Strickland Lane: The developer had tried to create one and the original DRI had required one, but varying ownerships along the road had made that infeasible, the applicant’s representative said at the meeting.

References to an aerial fire truck in the DRI’s language have also been changed to simply reference a fire truck, without requiring an aerial. The projected buildout date for the development is November 2035.

COPS CORNER

SEPT. 9

HIDDEN DRUGS

6:26 p.m. — 800 block of John Anderson Drive Trafficking in fentanyl. As police were searching a 49-year-old Ormond Beach man’s person during an investigation after a hit-and-run crash, an object was found near his groin. When asked what it was, the man claimed it was his genitals, but it was not.

A nylon pouch found inside the man’s underwear contained several capped syringes, 8 grams of methamphetamine, two unidentified pills and 12 grams of fentanyl, according to the arrest report.

Following the hit-and-run crash, the man had been stopped by an off-duty police officer who saw him walking through a neighbor’s backyard “in a way that appeared similar to someone that would break into houses,” the report reads. The man asked for a lawyer and was taken to jail after he was cleared at the hospital.

SEPT. 13

‘I DON’T UNDERSTAND’

9:40 p.m. — Intersection of Airport Road and Creek Forest Lane DUI. Police arrested a 52-year-old Ormond Beach man who was driving after dark with his tail lights off and dim lighting coming from the front of the vehicle. Once he was pulled over, the reporting officer noted the man’s speech was slurred and that he had indeed failed to turn on the lights on his vehicle.

After he was instructed to exit the vehicle, the man was unsteady on his feet, according to police. He was informed a DUI investigation would commence, but when police explained the procedures and asked him if he understood, the man said he didn’t. Police asked him what he didn’t understand, and the man replied, “I don’t understand.”

The man claimed he didn’t know his height, weight, color of his eyes, date of birth or current age. He claimed to have back, legs, balance and PTSD issues. He declined to perform field sobriety exercises and did not allow a breath test to be performed. A receipt found on his person showed that he had purchased 10 beers and one plate of chicken tenders from a local restaurant that day. He was taken to jail.

SEPT. 15

BY INVITE ONLY

7:10 a.m. — 300 block of

South Old Kings Road Trespassing. A 53-year-old Port Orange man was arrested after he was found walking on city property from which he had been trespassed twice in August.

The reporting officer was at the property due to a meeting when he spotted the man walking from the back of the property. The officer recognized the man and asked him his name. The man said that it was none of the officer’s business and that he was there for a meeting that was occuring with city staff.

He was instructed to step away from them, and the man then became agitated and said he was part of the business that was being conducted, police report. His vehicle was loaded up with scrap metal items from the property.

The man was taken to jail.

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