Hospitals are preparing to start performing elective surgeries again since the Coronavirus outbreak began.
Doctors are starting to perform elective surgeries again but it doesn’t mean everything is back to normal inside hospitals.
Lifebridge Health chief clinical officer Dr. Matthew Poffenroth said, “We’re gradually going towards that direction but we’re not there yet, and so we obviously wouldn’t prioritize a very, purely elective procedure over something that was more urgent.”
There are several challenges administrators are facing.
They have to be mindful of supplies of PPE, and medications and staffing.
For about two months, most hospital procedures were limited to urgent or emergency care during the state of emergency.
“Some of that work was still being done, and that’s sort of semi urgent, meaning, that if you put it off you could potentially have a bad outcome, now it’s really open up to everything, even cosmetic plastic surgery for example, which is purely elective,” Poffenroth said.
Some patients might be reluctant to go to a place where they know there’s a chance people with COVID-19 are being treated. Patients ready to reschedule should expect to be tested for COVID-19 as they’re re-examined for surgery.
As a precaution before anyone enters the hospital, all employees, patients, and providers will have to be screened and wear a mask.