According to Becker’s Hospital Review, the recent spike in COVID-19 cases has led to suspending elective surgeries again due to limited hospital resources, though physicians feel many people do not understand the severity of “elective” procedures.
Healthcare professionals are urging the public to understand that the “term ‘elective surgery’ does not describe the acuity of the medical condition or necessity of the procedure” but instead describes a surgery that is scheduled in advance from emergency surgeries, such as trauma cases. As Americans learn of more elective surgeries being postponed, physicians are speaking out to clarify a term which can often be misleading.
Dr. Joseph Sakran, a trauma surgeon with Johns Hopkins Medicine, said that it was one thing to cancel surgeries earlier in the pandemic when there was no choice or vaccine, but “postponing surgeries now is even more demoralizing for patients whose suffering is prolonged” given the availability of a safe and effective vaccine.
Around the United States, a growing list of health systems and hospitals are pushing back surgeries. Currently, hospitals in Texas, Tennessee, and Florida are being asked to suspend elective surgeries as COVID-19-related hospitalizations continue to surge.
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