Hospitals in two states where COVID-19 is surging have begun to delay elective surgeries again.
AdventHealth, based in Altamonte Springs, Fla., rescheduled some elective outpatient and nonurgent inpatient procedures for its central division July 26 as COVID-19 inpatients near the all-time high of 900 patients.
Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge, La., temporarily halted nonurgent surgeries for three weeks July 26, citing the spike in COVID-19 cases. However, the hospital will continue to provide services for outpatient procedures, according to a report from the local CBS affiliate.
Tallahassee (Fla.) Memorial HealthCare reopened its COVID-19 unit July 22 and suspended new inpatient elective surgery cases through July 30, according to a report from the local ABC affiliate.
Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Fla., asked surgeons to delay elective surgeries that required an overnight stay July 14 after the hospital recorded an uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Throughout the pandemic, ASCs have coordinated with hospitals to move outpatient elective surgeries to their centers when hospitals needed to focus on patients with COVID-19. As the delta variants spread across the U.S., COVID-19 hospitalizations were up 32 percent July 13 to 19 over the previous week.