Resumption of Elective Surgeries and Procedures
As hospitals continue to face COVID-19 challenges, the virus has created historic financial pressures for hospitals throughout the country. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Centers across the country have deferred nonessential procedures to conserve resources for the care of COVID-19 patients. Beginning in mid-March, Heartland Regional Medical Center (HRMC) postponed some procedures that could reasonably be delayed.
In accordance with the new IDPH guidance, HRMC, and its affiliated clinics, will begin to perform elective procedures as soon as May 1, 2020 with elective surgeries targeted to resume on May 11. Currently, the hospital’s Surgical Review Committee is meeting on an ongoing basis to confirm that we meet IDPH criteria for outpatient and inpatient procedures.
Steps are also being taken to meet IDPH requirements on personal protective equipment (PPE) supply, infection control, and support services. Each patient must test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of a scheduled procedure and self-quarantine until the day of surgery after being tested.
"I believe that the idea of postponing surgeries to conserve resources for a potential influx of COVID-19 positive patients was the right move," according to HRMC CEO Ed Cunningham. “Now, we’re ready to safely welcome patients for those postponed surgeries and procedures along with patients who are not seeking Emergency Room treatment out of fear of contracting COVID-19 or fear that the ER is full.”
“Heart attacks, strokes and broken bones don’t stop for the coronavirus and neither do we,” Cunningham said. “Our ER is open, safe and ready to care for you or a loved one if you need emergency care.”