April 19, 2020 / ERICA TEICHERT
The CMS on Sunday released guidelines for hospitals to restart elective surgeries while maintaining their ability to treat COVID-19 patients.
As state governments begin to look past the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, several have released phased plans for reopening businesses and workplaces and lifting stay-at-home orders. Hospitals will have to undergo similar, phased processes, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said.
“This isn’t going to be like a light switch. It’s more like a sunrise where it’s a going to be a gradual process,” Verma said during a Sunday press conference.
Before a hospital can reopen for non-emergent, non-coronavirus care, their state or region will have to meet certain criteria in terms of residents’ symptoms and case loads. Hospitals in those areas can then provide care to patients who do not have COVID-19 “as clinically appropriate.” Facilities must have adequate workforce, testing and supplies to restart in-person care. They should consider creating “Non-COVID Care zones” to screen patients for the virus.
