Hospitals across the US are canceling procedures to make room for a potential surge of coronavirus patients

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Hospitals across the US are canceling procedures to make room for a potential surge of coronavirus patients
coronavirus hospital doctor healthcare workers masks
  • Hospitals have started to cancel elective procedures as the coronavirus pandemic rages in the US.
  • The US Surgeon General called on health systems to stop performing elective procedures. "PLEASE CONSIDER STOPPING ELECTIVE PROCEDURES until we can #FlattenTheCurve!" he tweeted.
  • Postponing elective procedures during the pandemic helps free up space in hospitals for patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Hospitals across the US are starting to call off planned procedures amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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As the virus spreads in the US, it's putting a strain on the US healthcare system. Postponing procedures is one way to free up space that might be needed by those who are critically ill with COVID-19.

On Saturday, the US Surgeon General called on health systems to stop elective procedures amid the outbreak.

"PLEASE CONSIDER STOPPING ELECTIVE PROCEDURES until we can #FlattenTheCurve!" he tweeted.

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Hospitals in hotspots are already canceling surgeries

In Seattle, one of the first places in the US to be hit hard by the coronavirus, hospitals have begun to cancel procedures. That includes hospitals affiliated with University of Washington Medicine.

On Friday, Swedish Medical Center, the arm of health system Providence St. Joseph Health that operates hospitals in the Seattle area, decided to stop elective inpatient and outpatient procedures, citing the need to preserve capacity. The hospital has also stopped allowing visitors to see patients in most cases.

That's happening around the country.

In Boston, Brigham and Women's Hospital on Friday said it would be deferring non-urgent and elective care "to ensure the safest possible environment for patients & staff." Tufts Medical Center said it would reduce the level of elective care at its hospitals. Massachusetts General Hospital has been looking to switch outpatient visits to online rather than in-person, The Wall Street Journal reports.

New York's New York-Presbyterian Hospitals began postponing elective procedures and surgeries as of Monday. Northwell Health, which operates 23 hospitals in the state, canceled all elective procedures and surgeries starting March 16 through April 15.

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Baltimore-based GBMC HealthCare starting Tuesday will cancel all elective surgeries.

Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine is rescheduling patient visits and procedures.

Why postponing elective surgeries could help hospitals handle the outbreak

As hospitals across the US brace for cases of the novel coronavirus, departments in charge of caring for the sickest patients are grappling with how they're going to respond.

By some estimates, millions of Americans sickened by coronavirus might need a stay in an intensive care unit, the part of the hospital devoted to providing advanced life-saving care. That will likely put a strain on staff, tax supplies of equipment like ventilators and masks, and even put facilities at risk of running out of room.

Read more: Hospitals could be overwhelmed with patients and run out of beds and ventilators as the coronavirus pushes the US healthcare system to its limits

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Dr. Craig Coopersmith, interim director of the Emory Critical Care Center, told Business Insider in March that many ICUs around the country are full on any given day.

While hospitals can cancel surgeries and take other measures to free up space, a spreading coronavirus outbreak would stretch them to their limits, he said.

"This is not normal," Coopersmith said.

Read more: 'We're gearing up for something extremely significant': Top hospitals across the US told us how they're preparing for the coronavirus outbreak

The move to stop elective surgeries won't come without a financial impact to hospitals. Surgeries tend to be more profitable for hospitals, so canceling them could cause financial strain.

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"The halting of higher margin election procedures on a mass scale could have a significant adverse financial impact on the U.S. hospital industry," Stephens analyst Scott Fidel said in a note Monday. "At the same time, this unprecedented action may be entirely necessary from a public health emergency perspective."

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