New COVID positive cases are rising sharply in the community, especially in the past weeks following the Thanksgiving holiday. This surge combined with already high demand for hospital services unrelated to COVID-19 is creating an extraordinarily high volume of patients who need hospital and emergency care.
In order to meet the needs of our community and the demand for hospital beds at this time, we are taking the step to temporarily postpone surgeries and procedures that are not time-sensitive and that would impact inpatient bed availability. We are working closely with our physician community to determine which surgeries and procedures can be safely delayed, as we also work closely with our patients who will be impacted.
If you are a patient currently scheduled for surgery, no action is needed on your part. You will be contacted individually if there is a need to reschedule your surgery.
We continue to perform surgeries and procedures for patients who are already admitted to our hospitals, as well as urgent procedures and those associated with emergency care. We also continue to perform surgeries in which patients are discharged within six hours after their surgery.
Outpatient procedures are not affected by this change and are proceeding as normal.
We will continue to monitor and reevaluate our policies daily and make every effort to reestablish normal care as soon as it is appropriate.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that these temporary delays cause our patients and their families. Patients who have questions about their individual care should consult with their primary care provider or surgeon.
Throughout the pandemic, we have faced challenges with each surge of COVID-19 in our community, as we’ve also worked to meet the needs of increasing numbers of patients with other medical needs. We thank our caregivers for their continued dedication, sacrifice and commitment as they rise to meet every challenge and care for each patient with excellence and love. And we thank our patients for trusting us as expert, caring partners in their health. We are unwaveringly focused on meeting the health needs of our community through the pandemic and beyond with the highest-quality care.
While COVID-19 is not the only driver of the current situation in our community, we continue to urge everyone to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and influenza, and to practice masking, social distancing and the other important steps that we know can help to prevent the transmission of COVID and other infectious diseases.
Source: ChristianaCare