COVID hasn't been kind to patients needing elective surgery in the area.
Health Sciences North in Sudbury says since March 15, about 2,000 non-urgent scheduled surgeries such as tonsillectomies, cataracts, and nerve repair surgeries, as well as 2,400 other minor procedures such as colonoscopies, gastroscopy, and cystoscopy, have been postponed.
A North Bay Regional Hospital response was not received by publishing time.
"We understand that postponing non-urgent surgeries and elective procedures have been difficult for patients and families," says spokesman Jason Turnbull. "While we wish we didn’t have to do this, it was a difficult but necessary decision based on Ministry of Health direction and on the need to limit the use of PPE and reduce occupancy in the hospital to create room for a surge of COVID-19 patients."
With new provincial guidance HSN will begin planning for the gradual resumption of scheduled surgeries and procedures.
Details were provided today by Premier Doug Ford and Christine Elliott, Minister of Health.
Since March 15, about 500 emergency surgeries such as trauma, urgent cardiovascular, cardiac, and cancer surgeries, as well as about 300 urgent minor procedures such as gastrointestinal scopes, skin cancers, and bladder lesions, have been performed at HSN.
"We will be coordinating our efforts with Northern Ontario hospitals to re-introduce clinical activities, being mindful of the need to set aside hospital bed capacity for a potential future surge of COVID cases, the need to ensure an adequate supply of PPE and impacts on other parts of the health system," explained Turnbull.
The hospital is working to finalize plans to re-introduce clinical services. Those plans will be reviewed by a group of northern Ontario peers later this month. HSN will then be in a position to confirm a date when rescheduled surgeries and procedures will gradually begin.
"We're taking a responsible and gradual approach to resuming scheduled surgeries, one that will keep our health care system strong, protect our frontline staff and patients, and ensure our hospitals stay prepared for any potential outbreak or surge of COVID-19," said Premier Ford. "We're asking each hospital to come up with a plan based on their community's needs and the trends they're seeing on the ground. Together, we can get surgeries back on track as soon as possible."
The framework, A Measured Approach to Planning for Surgeries and Procedures During the COVID-19 Pandemic, contains criteria that must be met before hospitals can resume scheduled surgeries, including ensuring that the hospital and its region have the following:
- A stable number of COVID-19 cases;
- A stable supply of personal protective equipment;
- A stable supply of medications;
- An adequate capacity of inpatient and intensive care unit beds;
- An adequate capacity of health human resources; and
- The availability of post-acute care outside the hospital that would be required to support patients after discharge.
"Delaying scheduled surgeries was one of the toughest decisions we had to make as we responded to the growing threat of COVID-19," said Elliott. "However, it was imperative to ensure our readiness to protect the health and wellbeing of Ontarians as we planned for a worst-case scenario. Due to the collective efforts of everyone to stop the spread of this virus, we are now in a position where we can begin to plan for ramping up surgeries."
As a first step, hospitals will need to assess if there is adequate staffing, equipment and other resources to resume scheduled care. This assessment will be revisited on a weekly basis to reflect changing needs and requirements, including responding to any COVID-19 surges that may occur locally.
The framework also sets out the criteria for prioritizing surgeries such as:
- A patient's condition;
- The type of procedure a patient requires and whether options for non-operative treatments exist;
- The associated risks of delaying a patient's surgery; and
- The resources required in terms of personal protective equipment, medications, intensive care unit beds, and other care requirements needed after an operation.
