QEII, Dartmouth General cut elective surgeries due to COVID-19 cases
Posted Apr 24, 2021 02:36:42 PM.
In the next couple of weeks, two hospitals in the Halifax Regional Municipality are reducing elective surgery volumes in anticipation of COVID-19 admissions.
Teams at the QEII Health Sciences Centre and Dartmouth General Hospital are reviewing and adjusting current surgical schedules.
The adjustments will reduce elective surgery volumes by up to 25 per cent over the next couple of weeks.
Nova Scotia Health says the reduction is “necessary” to increase beds and staff for capacity, prepare the potential of staff being impacted by community exposures and to redeploy staff to COVID units and testing centres.
On April 23, Nova Scotia reported 150 active cases of COVID-19. Four people were hospitalized when the province released the data.
On a typical day, around 100 people have surgery at both the QEII Health Sciences Centre and Dartmouth General Hospital.
Currently, Nova Scotia Health has no other surgical reductions planned.
Pre-admission appointments and other surgery related clinics, such as surgical consults, will continue.
“We are hopeful that this situation can be brought under control as quickly as possible, and will work to rebook any patients who had their surgery postponed as quickly as possible,” a news release says.
Surgeons' offices will notify patients whose surgeries must be postponed.
Nova Scotia health says patients will hear about any postponing with as much notice as possible.
However, the situation is changing rapidly and some cases could be impacted with little notice.
“We also remind surgery patients to limit their exposure to others in the days leading up to their surgery, to the greatest extent possible, to minimize the risk of being exposed to COVID-19,” the news release says.
