Central New Yorkers who’ve been waiting since mid-March to have surgery can now begin the process of scheduling or rescheduling procedures. St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center is among those who had to halt so-called “elective surgeries” to prepare for any possible surge in COVID-19 patients.
Emergency Management and Disaster Preparedness Manager Joe Bick says no surgery is really "elective."
"You don't have to get it done today, but it's going to have to be done or it's going to progress to a point where there will be no ability to choose the time and place of it."
Bick says early on in the pandemic, they evaluated surgeries to rate their level of medical necessity. Those that couldn't wait were done safely to avoid a negative outcome.
Procedures put on hold range from orthopedic and urological…to ear, nose, and throat and even diagnostic tests like colonoscopies. Bick says they have a team working on restarting surgeries by mid-May under the rigorous guidance of the state health department.
"Our hospital-based surgery centers have been COVID-free and closed for the last seven weeks, so as we ramp up into doing surgeries again, I hope people can get some sense of comfort from the fact that everyone here is committed to their safety."
Perhaps as further reassurance, St. Joe's has just earned its third consecutive “A” grade in the annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey. It's the only hospital in the region to receive the designation based on 28 publicly reported measures that include patient satisfaction, physician staffing, and infections among others.
