CCH to Resume Some Elective Surgeries
2021-05-20
The Cornwall
Community Hospital (CCH) has received approval from the Government of Ontario
to gradually resume some non-emergency and non-urgent day surgeries and
procedures.
The directive
to pause these services was first put in place on April 20th by the
provincial government to ensure that hospitals could accommodate increasing
numbers of patients requiring hospitalization from COVID-19 without being
overwhelmed.
Although
provincial case counts and hospitalizations remain high, they are trending downward
in several communities, clearing the way for hospitals with adequate resources
and capacity, including CCH, to slowly resume day procedures which don’t
require patient stays.
Some examples
of non-emergency and non-urgent elective day procedures could include cataracts
surgeries, skin surgeries, gastrointestinal procedures, tonsillectomies, tendon
and muscle repairs, etc. Emergency and urgent procedures for life threatening
or urgent medical conditions were not disrupted by the provincial directive and
continued throughout the third wave this spring at CCH.
It is
estimated that over 2,000 patients are currently waiting for an elective
procedure at CCH; however, the Hospital is confident it will be able to
efficiently lower that number and catch up within the coming months, just as it
has after each wave.
“We know that
people could be eager or worried as they wait for surgeries,” said Jeanette
Despatie, President and CEO of CCH. “We have been carefully planning to ensure
we are ready to resume non-urgent and non-emergency surgeries and procedures as
soon as possible, while balancing the needs and pressures of the pandemic and
other clinical services,” she added.
CCH continues
to operate at near capacity levels, and resumption will be gradual and carefully
considered to maintain the ability to rapidly respond to increases in COVID-19
case counts and hospitalizations.
“We kindly ask
residents to continue following effective public health guidelines and consider
getting vaccinated to help mitigate community outbreaks of COVID-19, which
could quickly overwhelm our Hospital, and so we can focus on safely ramping up
non-emergency day procedures and eventually non-emergency inpatient
procedures,” said Despatie.
At this time,
only eligible patients with a postponed surgery or procedure will be contacted
by CCH to be rescheduled. Patients are encouraged to visit the CCH website at www.cornwallhospital.ca/en/surgery
for the latest updates.
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