Hospitals are canceling elective surgeries to make room for potential flood of coronavirus patients
in regions hit hard by the coronavirus, including Santa Clara County, specifically stating that hospitals "cancel elective and non-urgent procedures."The decision to delay or cancel cases is a particularly difficult one for cash-strapped hospitals, health experts say. The procedures represent a major source of funds for health systems, and are often given priority over emergency surgeries.
"Yes I'm concerned about the finances," said Dr. Apkon, when asked about the hit to health systems. "But the financial impact for what we're going through with a slowdown in our clinic pales in comparison to the broader impact that this pandemic will have."Some are taking more tentative steps than issuing sweeping cancellations. Dr.
Other health systems have convened a panel of human experts to help them figure out what to do. At UC San Francisco, some non-urgent elective surgical cases have already been cancelled. But going forward, a spokesperson said, "we have a vetting process which includes surgical chairs and peri-operative leadership to assure that the most urgent cases go forward."
Procedures most likely to be postponed are those that require patients to remain in intensive care units or on ventilators for several days, suggests Mudit Garg, the CEO of Qventus, a company that works with health systems to understand their operations.to map out the biggest projected supply chain gaps. If the coronavirus continues to spread, he expects that the many hospitals could run out of vital medical equipment and other supplies quickly in some states.
"For many hospitals it hasn't gotten to the point yet where they need to cancel altogether," said Garg. "But they need to be prepared to make that call quickly."
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