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By Veronica Beltran

surgeries resume

Northern Health says surgeries will resume, measures being placed to keep staff and patients safe

May 12, 2020 | 2:44 PM

PRINCE GEORGE–Northern Health announced today (May 12) that they are resuming elective surgeries that had been postponed due to COVID-19, and say they are committed to keeping patients and staff safe as they move forward by adding new measures to the way they do things.

In a release by Northern Health they say that as they resume elective surgeries and as the pandemic continues to evolve, “we are actively working to safely resume elective surgeries while continuing to minimize the risk of transmission of COVID-19.”

As of today, Northern Health will begin to contact patients to book procedures and/or to confirm if they are willing and able to move forward with their surgeries.

“Patients who require urgent, emergent and oncology-related surgeries will continue to be prioritized,” read the release.

Northern Health is implementing several measures to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 including, plans for telephone pre-admission screening of surgical patients, where available–this will help reduce the amount of patients needing to visit the hospital for in-person visits before their surgeries, and will include telephone assessments, and consultations–consistent screening tools and risk assessment guidelines will be used, patients will be assessed 24-72 hours prior to surgery and arrival the day of surgery, and surgeries will be scheduled with time to accomodate additional cleaning and infection control measures.

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According to Northern Health patients will be scheduled on priority determined by their surgeon.

Northern Health says it will be back to full surgical capacity as soon as it can, and where possible, will expand surgical capacity over the coming months–a plan dependant on several factors, including adequate supply of personal protective equipment, full commitment of all partners, and monitoring of any possible fall/ winter resurgence of COVID-19.