OBSERVER Staff Report

It’s possible Brooks and Westfield Memorial hospitals may be able to serve non-emergency patients.

On Tuesday, amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced elective outpatient treatments can resume in counties and hospitals without significant risk of COVID-19 surge as early as next week.

According to Cuomo, Hospitals will be able to resume performing elective outpatient treatments on April 28 if the hospital capacity is over 25 percent for the county and if there have been fewer than 10 new hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients in the county over the past 10 days.

If a hospital is located in a county eligible to resume elective outpatient treatments, but that hospital has a capacity under 25 percent or has had more than 10 new hospitalizations in the past 10 days, that hospital is not eligible to resume elective surgeries. If a county or hospital that has resumed elective surgery experiences a decrease in hospital capacity below the 25 percent threshold or an increase of 10 or more new hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients, elective surgeries must cease. Further, patients must test negative for COVID-19 prior to any elective outpatient treatment.

The State Department of Health will issue guidance on resuming elective surgeries.

Restrictions on elective surgery will remain in place in Erie, Bronx, Queens, Rockland, Nassau, Clinton, Yates, Westchester, Albany, Richmond, Schuyler, Kings, Suffolk, New York, Dutchess, Sullivan, Ulster, Orange and Rensselaer counties as the state continues to monitor the rate of new COVID-19 infections in the region.

“As New York continues to flatten the curve of new COVID-19 infections, we are now ready to lift the restrictions on elective surgeries in regions where hospital capacity and the rate of new infections do not present a significant risk of a surge in new positive cases,” Cuomo said while in Buffalo. “It is essential that we continue to support hospitals and health care workers in all regions to ensure they have both capacity and supplies to treat COVID patients because this virus is by no means defeated.”

A spokesperson for Allegheny Health Network issued a statement saying they are monitoring the situation, including how it would affect Westfield Memorial Hospital.

“At Allegheny Health Network, we continue to closely monitor the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic in western and northwestern PA and in the western NY area, while also communicating regularly with local and state health officials about the safest and most responsible approaches to patient care at this time. We are preparing appropriately for an organized, phased-in return to normal surgical operations in the coming weeks and will strictly follow CDC (Center for Disease Control) and CMS (Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services) guidelines in order to ensure the safety and well-being of our patients and caregivers,” the statement read.

Sheila Walier, Director of Marketing and Community Relations for Brooks-TLC Hospital System, Inc., stated at this time they do not yet have specific guidance from the state Department of Health, related to the governor’s remarks about re-opening elective surgery in some areas of the State. “However, we are eager to learn more about the steps required to safely resume elective surgery cases,” she said.