California health providers postpone elective surgeries to prepare for coronavirus surge
Dignity Health, Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health said Tuesday that they are postponing elective surgeries and procedures as they preserve capacity for patients with critical needs, as the nation braces for a surge in severe infections caused by the coronavirus.
UC Davis Health spokesman Charles Casey said the academic teaching hospital was not putting off elective procedures, but the postponements could affect Dignity hospitals in Carmichael, Folsom, Grass Valley, Sacramento and Woodland; Sutter facilities in Davis, Roseville and Sacramento; and Kaiser medical centers in Sacramento and Roseville.
“We are in the process of reaching out to patients to discuss their care plans,” said Yessenia Anderson, a Dignity spokesperson. “Patients who do have their visit or procedure postponed will be provided an alternative option to include a phone consultation, virtual visit or rescheduled for another date. Physicians will determine in which circumstance postponing or phone/virtual visits would put an individual’s health in jeopardy and a clinic visit is absolutely necessary.”
Kaiser Permanente said its physicians are reviewing all elective procedures scheduled for this month to determine those that can be safely postponed in adherence with recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Surgeons.
“We are currently contacting patients affected by this to discuss options for rescheduling and to answer questions they may have,” spokesperson Chyresse Hill said. “We understand that this is an inconvenience, but for Kaiser Permanente and other health care providers this is a necessary step to slow the spread of COVID-19 and ensure that we continue to have the resources, capacity, and staff available to care for our members and the communities we serve.”
Jan Emerson-Shea, the chief spokesperson for the California Hospital Association, said hospitals around the state already have postponed elective procedures and surgeries or are considering it.
“Elective doesn’t mean it’s not medically necessary, but if there are situations where procedures can be safely rescheduled to a later date, that’s a strategy that many hospitals across the state are looking at doing,” Emerson-Shea said.
She noted that such actions allow the state’s hospitals to preserve resources for those people who are critically sick, whether it’s with COVID-19 or any other health care need.
“We are going to still have people who need heart surgery or cancer treatments or people who are going to have babies,” Emerson-Shea said. “We have to ensure the health care system remains strong and operational for everyone, whether you have COVID-19 or not.”
Bracing for a rush of COVID-19 cases
The industry group also has been making recommendations to both hospital and public leaders to ensure that hospitals will have the manpower, space and equipment to meet the surge.
Emerson-Shea said the association began last week advising its members to make clear all the ways that patients can seek care. Many have online portals, she said, where patients can contact the medical team. Others have provided emails. Some have telephone numbers where patients can reach advice nurses or tele-health services.
At UC Davis Health, a note on the website advises patients can call their primary care doctors for advice on where to go, and Kaiser suggests that its members call the appointment and advice call center on their identification cards.
Medical providers have to adopt these strategies to deal with a surge in capacity, Emerson-Shea said, but they also will allow providers to isolate people who have infectious diseases rather than have them in the emergency rooms or in waiting rooms at urgent care centers. By having patients contact them ahead of arrival, hospitals can direct them to screening tents or other intake areas.
“They make sure that people who may potentially have this virus are treated as fast as possible and allows for health care workers to take the appropriate precautions,” Emerson-Shea said, “and it protects the broader community who may have other health care needs completely unrelated to COVID-19.”
At the same time, she said, the hospital association is trying to ensure there will be enough health care workers to help California weather the current COVID-19 crisis. So, leaders of the industry group moved quickly to get some clarity after Gov. Gavin Newsom recommended people age 65 and over go into quarantine to protect their health.
The announcement caused quite a stir in the health care field where many doctors and nurses work past the age of 65. The National Nurses United has roughly 155,000 members and the union estimated roughly 8,000 will be 65 or older this year. Not all will continue working, said spokesperson Rachel Berger, but many will.
This goes beyond nurses and doctors, however, Emerson-Shea said.
“We’re talking about everyone else who works in the hospital, whether it’s people who work in the dietary department, environmental services or housekeeping,” she said. “We need all available health care workers to make sure we can continue to deliver care to everybody whether they have COVID-19 or whether they’re in the hospital for cancer care or heart treatment.”
As of Tuesday evening, more than 100 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States since an outbreak of the illness was reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Worldwide, there have been nearly 200,000 cases. More than 7,900 people have died, and roughly 81,000 have recovered.
The illness has resulted in strict recommendations – and in some countries, prohibitions – on social gatherings.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "California health providers postpone elective surgeries to prepare for coronavirus surge."
