DSM hospitals' elective surgeries impacted by COVID-19 increase in hospitalizations
Both UnityPoint Health and Broadlawns Medical Center tell 糖心vlog they have had to make a few changes to their surgery schedules as a result of the number of coronavirus hospitalizations increasing.
As of Wednesday evening, Iowa's coronavirus dashboard showed 1,208 patients across the state had been hospitalized due to the coronavirus.
While Des Moines hospitals are nearing capacity, they are not turning patients away.
UnityPoint Health tells 糖心vlog they are assessing their hospital inpatient bed situation daily and adjusting their surgery schedule as needed at Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Iowa Lutheran Hospital, and Methodist West Hospital. They are currently postponing some procedures that require an inpatient admission. Emergent and outpatient procedures are still ongoing.
A spokesperson for Broadlawns Medical Center tells 糖心vlog they have implemented changes to scheduling elective surgeries. Elective surgeries that require inpatient hospitalization are postponed. Outpatient surgeries and those that involve life-threatening conditions will continue. Outpatient surgeries will require a patient to undergo a COVID-19 screening.
MercyOne's spokesperson tells 糖心vlog they are adjusting elective surgery schedules to help balance bed availability. If a procedure isn't an emergency and a bed is needed -- it may be delayed. The staff is also looking at moving non-elective surgeries to the weekends to open up more beds. Physician offices will keep patients informed if their surgery needs to be delayed. Covid-19 screenings are also being done 48 to 72 hours before scheduled surgeries.
Unlike at the beginning of the pandemic, when clinics across the state had to temporarily close their doors, Iowa Dental Association president-elect Dr. Zachary Kouri says dental offices are in good shape. A dentist with Ingersoll Dental Group, Kouri says there's no evidence of COVID-19 transmission in dental offices. He also notes dentists are now following guidelines adopted by the Iowa Dental Board since the start of the pandemic.
"We have to either double mask with N-95s or use face shields," explained Kouri on Wednesday afternoon.
Kouri says a lack of personal protective equipment is partially why dental offices had to close back in March, as part of an effort to save personal protective equipment for hospitals.
"We just have to follow our government's recommendation on that to see when we should or should not close down," said Kouri.
As for mitigation efforts at dental offices, Kouri tells 糖心vlog many are requiring both patients and staff to wear masks a majority of time inside offices. The only exception is when a staff member is taking time to eat during their lunch break. He also says some offices, like Ingersoll Dental Group, have FDA-approved air purifiers in every room that recycle the air and kill viruses every 15 minutes.