OLEAN, N.Y. — Following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement April 21 that some hospitals in New York will be able to resume elective procedures, Olean General Hospital (OGH), a member of Upper Allegheny Health System (UAHS), said they are optimistic they can resume elective surgery sometime next week.
Gov. Cuomo said hospitals will be able to resume performing elective outpatient treatments April 28 if the hospital capacity is over 25 percent for the county and if there have been fewer than 10 new hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients in the county over the past 10 days. If a hospital is located in a county eligible to resume elective outpatient treatments, but that hospital has a capacity under 25 percent or has had more than 10 new hospitalizations in the past 10 days, that hospital is not eligible to resume elective surgeries.
Jeff Zewe, president and CEO, UAHS, said OGH falls into the group of hospitals that can resume elective procedures. “There is further guidance we need from the New York State Department of Health but we feel confident we will be able to resume elective procedures next week.
“This is good news for the community. We have been meeting with our surgeons and surgical staff and are anxious to resume the service so that patients in our community can receive the elective treatments they need,” Zewe said.
“We know our surgeons have a significant backlog of cases since surgeries were suspended last month. Although, beginning next week we’ll restart slowly to assure all processes are in place to keep our patient safe,” William Mills, MD, chief medical officer, UAHS, said.
He explained that all patients having elective surgery must test negative for COVID-19 prior to surgery. “We are currently working out the logistics as this is a new requirement we have not seen before.”
Mills said any information about rescheduling would come directly to patients from their individual surgeon.
Zewe explained that UAHS is still awaiting a decision in Pennsylvania about resuming elective surgery at Bradford Regional Medical Center. “We are hopeful that Gov. Wolf will make a decision similar to Gov. Cuomo and allow the resumption of elective surgeries in low COVID-19 impact areas such as McKean County. Both Bradford and Olean have seen relatively low activity relative to COVID-19,” Zewe said.
“Getting services back online is important from a patient care perspective,” Zewe said. “People need to have these procedures. In some cases, delaying essential care can be dangerous to a patient’s health.
“Sami Placer (senior system director, perioperative services) and her surgical services staff have been working very diligently to restart outpatient surgery while keeping patient safety as a top priority. Resuming this vital service is good news for the community and our patients,” Mills said.
