Pittsburgh-based UPMC will continue performing elective surgeries despite national calls to delay such procedures, TribLive reports.
What you should know:
1. "This is not the time for UPMC to diminish services to those who depend on us," the system said in a statement on Twitter, adding that some elective surgeries could be postponed but "likely cannot be delayed for long."
2. Both county and U.S. officials have urged healthcare facilities to cancel elective surgeries and save resources to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. UPMC made the following statement to TribLive on its decision to continue elective procedures: "Balancing our patients' ongoing clinical needs with the avoidance of unnecessary exposure requires a nuanced approach — not an across-the-board canceling of clinics and procedures. UPMC recommends that 'elective' procedures for those that are at higher risk should be delayed only when it is clinically safe to do so. ... UPMC has been preparing since the outset of this virus emergence and before for other clinical challenges. Nothing we do will in any way diminish that preparation."
4. Most other hospitals in Allegheny County, of which UPMC is a part, have canceled elective procedures.
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