When hospitals began canceling and postponing elective surgeries to focus on COVID-19 patients in early 2020, many surgery centers limited capacity or temporarily closed their doors to keep patients safe and redirect resources to the hospital.
ASCs began ramping up procedure volume again mid-year after developing new safety protocols and procuring the necessary personal protective equipment for staff. But, multiple hospitals in Michigan have begun postponing or canceling elective surgeries again as they fill up with COVID-19 patients, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Mercy Health Muskegon (Mich.) Medical Center canceled 13 procedures April 6. Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor and Spectrum Health's Grand Rapids hospitals postponed some non-emergent procedures for about a week, according to the April 8 report.
"Similar to many health systems across the state and metro region, Michigan Medicine has experienced record high emergency room and admission volumes for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 care this week resulting in extremely high hospital occupancy," said an email statement from Michigan Medicine. "Due to rising occupancy and forecasts for continued high demand for emergency care and admissions, Michigan Medicine has had to make the difficult decision to reschedule a small number of scheduled surgeries late this week and next week in order to maintain safe occupancy levels. For example, tomorrow we are postponing three cases, which on an average day represents about 1.2 percent of all surgeries."
We are constantly monitoring the evolving situation and will make further adjustments to ensure scheduling aligns with our staffing and hospital room availability with safety of our patients and staff always remaining our highest priority.
So far, no ASCs in Michigan have announced scaling back elective surgical procedures as COVID-19 cases in the state increase.
In mid-2020, ASC administrators said they were ready for additional surges of COVID-19 because they have protocols in place for safe procedures, and patients will still need to move forward with surgical procedures.
Christine Washick, RN, administrator of Triangle Surgery Center in Raleigh, N.C., told Becker's after the initial wave of COVID-19 she didn't anticipate halting elective surgeries again outside of government requirements.
"Unless there is a mandated halt at the state or federal level, we are in a unique position to fulfill a community need and provide orthopedic elective cases that although are not 'urgent' in nature, are impeding a patient's quality of life," she said. "Dealing with immobility and chronic pain can negatively impact a patient's physical as well as emotional health. Enhanced cleaning, availability of testing, and securing necessary supplies and PPE should ensure our ability to remain open to provide a safe environment for patients to be treated outside of the hospital setting, helping to ensure hospital capacity for community surge in COVID-19 cases."
Editor's Note: This article was updated April 9 at 11:30 am CST to include a statement from Michigan Medicine.