News: Hospitals postponing elective procedures during COVID-19 spike
A list of hospitals who are postponing elective procedures amid the COVID-19 resurgence was released by Becker’s Hospital Review. The recent uptick in hospitalizations due to COVID-19 is causing more and more hospitals to suspend elective procedures in order to free up space and respond. Hospitals included in the list are:
- UnityPoint Health Meriter
- St. Luke’s
- BJC HealthCare
- Methodist Health System
- Nebraska Medicine
- CHI Health
- Sanford Health
- Bryan Health
- Mayo Clinic Health Systems
UW HealthAccording to the Impact of COVID-19 on CDI Departments survey from this past spring, 89.22% of respondents said that their patient census decreased due to the pandemic. While in recent conversations with CDI departments ACDIS has heard that hospitals’ censuses have started to increase again, it seems likely that many hospitals will once again stop elective services and again see a decrease in census due to the pandemic.
During this time, organizations should again consider remote work models if their CDI departments have returned onsite, as well as using lower census time for refocusing on projects that have fallen through the cracks, as well as continuing education.
Editor’s note: The Becker’s Hospital Review list can be found here. The Impact of COVID-19 on CDI Departments survey results can be found here. A report of the Back to the Hospital: The effect of COVID-19 on CDI panel discussion can be found here.