Hospitals in Central New York, the Mohawk Valley and the North Country have been told to stop nonessential elective operations for at least two weeks because of low patient bed capacity.
Forty hospitals were ordered Saturday to cancel elective procedures. Among them, two Utica hospitals with acute care beds and emergency services operated by Mohawk Valley Health System: Faxton-St Luke’s Healthcare and St. Elizabeth Medical Center.
"What we are expecting to see is a decrease in the total surgeries that are available to this community by, we’ll be doing maybe one fourth of surgeries and procedures than we have previously done. So that does have an impact on patients," MVHS president Darlene said. "It has an impact on the medical staff, and it certainly has an impact on the hospital. But that said, we are also really struggling like all hospitals in Central New York with staff shortages. And that also has had an impact. So it's not just the one thing, it's basically two things that are impacting our ability to do surgery."
Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home in the Fulton County city of Gloversville also made the list. The facility responded to a request for comment by email, writing in part that it is asking the Department of Health to review the decision.
"The healthcare organization’s exception is largely based on the organization aligning more closely to the Capital Region. For two years, Littauer has been collaborating weekly - sometimes daily - to load balance COVID hospitalizations and transfer demands with Capital Region hospitals. The hospital does not regularly communicate with hospitals to the west," the statement said. "Additionally, surgeries at Littauer are largely not impacted by fluctuating COVID surges."
Also listed: A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital in Oneonta, Cobleskill Regional Hospital and Little Falls Hospital, all affiliates of the Bassett Healthcare Network, whose chief of Surgical Services is Dr. Nick Hellenthal.
"We are continuing to try to accommodate, you know, patients with non-elective matters as best as we can, we've been pretty successful in that," Hellenthal said.We've had to limit truly elective procedures, which are procedures, and surgeries that are not done for cancer, for pain, for other debilitating things. So if it's a truly elective procedure, we sort of had to cut back on those. "
Hellenthal encourages people not to ignore medical emergencies.
"They should come to the ER, seek care, we've been doing a pretty good job getting there," said Hellentahl. " Alot of this is at the discretion of the surgeons or practitioners as to what's elective, versus, you know, what is not truly elective. And so most, I think the practitioners do a pretty good job at, you know, siphoning out which surgeries are truly elective.”
Hellenthal concedes it is difficult for patients and their families trying to plan, and for surgeons trying to adhere to a schedule. The State Department of Health also says if any hospital's occupancy is above 95%, they are further required to halt elective surgeries at hospital-owned ambulatory surgical centers for a minimum of two weeks.
You can find the full list of affected facilities below:
Mohawk Valley Region:
Faxton-St Luke’s Healthcare St Luke’s Division
Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital
St. Mary's Healthcare
A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital
Cobleskill Regional Hospital
Little Falls Hospital
Nathan Littauer Hospital
Rome Memorial Hospital, Inc
St Elizabeth Medical Center
St. Mary's Healthcare - Amsterdam Memorial Campus
Finger Lakes Region:
F.F. Thompson Hospital
Geneva General Hospital
Newark-Wayne Community Hospital
Rochester General Hospital
The Unity Hospital of Rochester
United Memorial Medical Center North Street Campus
Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic
Highland Hospital
Medina Memorial Hospital
Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital of Yates County Inc
Strong Memorial Hospital
Wyoming County Community Hospital
Central New York Region:
Crouse Hospital
Oneida Health Hospital
Oswego Hospital
St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center
University Hospital SUNY Health Science Center
UPSTATE University Hospital at Community General
Auburn Community Hospital
Community Memorial Hospital Inc
Guthrie Cortland Medical Center
Impacted Hospitals in Other Regions:
Brooks-TLC Hospital System, Inc.
Mount St Mary’s Hospital and Health Center
Erie County Medical Center
Mercy Hospital of Buffalo
Sisters of Charity Hospital
The University of Vermont Health Network - Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital
Bertrand Chaffee Hospital
Olean General Hospital
