GBGH resumes some elective and non-urgent procedures and surgeries
December 30, 2020 – Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) is resuming non-urgent and elective procedures and surgeries after these services were postponed December 7 at the beginning of the outbreak. The resumption of services includes ambulatory care procedures, such as endoscopy, which were also postponed. The decision to proceed was based on no transmission in the surgical and ambulatory care departments and was made in consultation with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.
“GBGH has a comprehensive plan to safely and efficiently resume elective and non-urgent surgeries and procedures, ensuring our community once again has access to these important services,” says Dr. Vikram Ralhan, chief of staff and chair, Elective Surgical and Procedural Oversight Committee, GBGH. “We have worked with our physicians and clinical leaders to develop and implement a plan which will enable us to re-schedule procedures and gradually catch up on any waitlists created by this postponement.”
Physicians’ offices or the hospital will contact patients to notify them regarding re-scheduling their surgery or procedure. Urgent and emergent surgeries and procedures have always continued throughout the pandemic and recent outbreak. The hospital does have plans in place should it need to suddenly ramp down services again due to a surge in COVID-19 patients.
As of the end of day December 29, there have been the following cases related to the outbreak:
- 31 patient cases
- 10 patients admitted in hospital
- 15 patients discharged
- Six outbreak-related deaths
- 27 staff/credentialed staff cases
- One visitor related to the outbreak (high risk contact of a COVID positive patient during their period of communicability)
Statistics related to the outbreak are updated daily and can be found on the GBGH website – https://gbgh.on.ca/covid-19-novel-coronavirus-updates/
Contact:
Jennifer Moore
Communications Officer, GBGH
705-526-1300 ext 5177