The Brockville General Hospital (BGH) has been approved by the Ontario government to gradually resume scheduled surgeries and procedures.
BGH says there is a plan being developed in collaboration with local and regional partners to resume scheduled or elective surgeries and procedures.
President and CEO of BGH Nick Vlacholias, says these efforts will also help balance surgery waitlists, ensure fair access to care, and resource
availability.
“At BGH, we’ve identified cataracts and cystoscopies as our first priorities because of the growing wait list for both of these procedures. These are day surgeries, we can also manage these with minimal impact on bed occupancy. This was one of the many factors Ontario Health reviewed before approving our plan.”
The hospital says before being approved to expand services, they had to demonstrate appropriate and sustainable levels of personal protective equipment and a downward trend of COVID-19 positive patients.
Vlacholias says the community has worked very hard to follow safety protocols like physical distancing, proper hand hygiene and self-isolating when necessary. He credits the community with helping keep the number of COVID-19 positive patients low at BGH and across Leeds Grenville.
BGH says the key message to patients waiting is they are putting safety first.
Vlacholias says every patient will be screened for COVID-19 in advance of their procedure. Patients who fail screening for COVID-19 will not proceed with non-urgent, or elective, procedures.
“In addition, our professional, caring staff and physicians have reinforced and adapted many infection prevention and control practices to keep patients, and ourselves, safe. This is why we have not seen hospital-based transmission of COVID-19 at BGH.”
BGH says they can’t resume ambulatory clinics and diagnostic exams until additional information on reopening these services is provided from the province. Also, to ensure patient safety, BGH has prepared a plan to quickly ramp down services if cases of COVID-19 dramatically increase.