TOLEDO, Ohio — As Ohio begins on the road to reopening, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced hospitals and healthcare systems are one of the first to get back to semi-normal operations.
"Our order that we are issuing for May 1. All health procedures that can be done, that do not require an overnight stay in a hospital, we will be able to move forward with those procedures," DeWine said.
According to the governor, Ohioans have done a good job flattening the curve, allowing hospitals to serve more people who need medical support.
He credits our efforts at social distancing and following the stay-at-home order.
At ProMedica, doctors say they had to considerably scale back on operations when the stay-at-home order went in place. Over the last week, they've been prepping for those more procedures to begin.
"We were already in the process of bringing some of those back," ProMedica VP of Patient Care and Safety Dr. Brian Kaminski said. "This just clears the way to bring back a whole lot more that we wouldn't have ordinarily brought back under the current guidance"
There is still the issue of not having enough personal protective equipment to keep everyone safe, which is the reason the steps taken by DeWine are still small.
Kaminski says he's encouraged by the announcement, but hospitals are still trying to prioritize the most urgent needs while considering the availability of PPE.
For the Toledo Clinic, the governor's announcement is huge. They almost closed their outpatient surgery center, which is one of the more active centers for them.
"With this, we are going to be able now to go back to do all the necessary other procedures. Not necessarily urgent, but necessary. Like with us, things with cancer and pain management and minor procedures that are very essential for patients, but not necessarily urgent," Toledo Clinic Medical Officer Dr. Moshir Jacob said.
He says some patients are already scheduled for May 1. They will be practicing social distancing with a new contactless check-in to keep people out of waiting rooms.
He says patients stay in their cars and do not go into the building until their room is ready.
The governor's announcement brings back most surgeries while other procedures will resume as time goes on.
"The only thing that's left is some elective surgeries. As we see how we're moving forward and the availability of PPE we will, when that time is appropriate, open that up as well. But, this is a major, major change," DeWine said.
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