Many U.S. hospitals are canceling or scaling back on non-essential elective surgeries to make space for patients with the COVID-19 coronavirus and ensure there are enough intensive care beds available. Some states like Ohio are even moving to ban elective procedures altogether in the coming weeks. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday said he would sign an executive order to suspend all elective surgeries at New York City hospitals.
But there’s a lot of variation in what hospitals consider elective and what they do not, including procedures that can reduce pain or discomfort but aren’t life-threatening if they’re delayed a few months. Some surgeons are continuing on with business as usual, even scheduling cosmetic procedures.
That’s causing major disagreements among staff within hospitals. Several front line medical workers tell CNBC that surgeries they don’t consider urgent have moved forward this week, which they believe threatens the health of employees and patients.
The hospitals that are marching on with the procedures feel they can safely do so, especially if they’re not already seeing a surge in coronavirus cases. But some workers disagree, as they expect that more patients will flood the emergency rooms in the coming days. There’s also a shortage of personal protective equipment at most health systems, which they feel needs to be conserved.
