Kaleida Health to Postpone Non-essential Elective Procedures per New York State Department of Health Directive |
Updated: 12/2/2020 |
Today Kaleida Health received the official “Directive to Postpone all Non-Essential Elective Procedures in Erie County” from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH).
This is a follow up to Governor Cuomo’s “winter plan” announcement on Monday (November 30) where he outlined New York State’s new COVID-19 emergency hospital procedures.
Per NYSDOH, all hospitals in Erie County are required to postpone all non-essential elective procedures until further notice.
This directive does not apply to elective procedures at ambulatory surgery centers, office-based facilities or free standing diagnostic and treatment centers at this time.
The directive also outlines what actions to take based on the acuity of the surgery and health of the patient.
Kaleida Health’s Surgical Executive Committee (SEC) is working with hospital administration to implement this order.
Regarding electives, Kaleida Health and the Surgical Executive Committee have been working since the spring to ensure that we are managing patient care and patient hardship during COVID-19. Last week, we began to postpone and reschedule non-emergent procedures that would require lengthy hospital stays.
Postponing these non-essential elective procedures are all part of a multipronged approach to help flatten the curve, reduce hospitalizations and mitigate the second wave of COVID-19 in Western New York.
Important to continually message that the community can also help by following the three Ws: Wear your mask, Wash your hands and Watch your distance from others.
The directive may be extended to other counties if necessary to ensure the availability of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients.