As you are aware, the volume of COVID-19 positive patients in our community and hospitals is increasing rapidly. To best protect our ability to serve our communities, Kettering Health Network is alerting physicians of two issues related to elective surgical and other invasive procedures: length of stay and the potential for case postponement.
In order to keep inpatient beds available, proceduralists, hospitalists, intensivists and other providers are encouraged to immediately consider sending inpatients home as quickly as possible, converting potential inpatients or observation patients to ambulatory and/or avoiding admissions. Please review currently scheduled procedures to assess if they can safely be done on an ambulatory basis with no inpatient stay.
At this time, no postponement or cancellation of procedures is needed. But the situation could change rapidly within 12 to 24 hours, and elective procedures requiring overnight stays could be immediately suspended. The Perioperative Services Executive Committee will initiate case review again and will notify surgeons via MatchMD of any decisions resulting in case postponement. You are encouraged to begin case review now to achieve decreases in length of stay or conversion from an inpatient or observation status to an ambulatory status.
Thank you for your cooperation and support of our patients and community.