HOSPITALS look to resume elective surgeries.

Elective procedures given OK by state on Monday

FAYETTEVILLE — Hospitals in Northwest Arkansas are planning to resume elective surgeries, but some are holding off on doing so yet.

The state last month ordered hospitals and clinics to temporarily stop doing elective procedures to help prevent the spread of covid-19. The state began allowing hospitals and clinics to resume elective procedures Monday, granted the procedures don’t require patients to stay overnight. Health care providers must test patients for covid-19 within 48 hours before surgery.

Washington Regional Medical System said Tuesday it hasn’t resumed elective procedures but will do so once it can meet the state’s requirements.

“Our priority continues to be testing symptomatic patients and health care workers, and at this time we have limited capacity to test asymptomatic patients. Additionally, we are dependent on private labs to process test results for patients who need elective procedures, which requires us to work with our lab partners to minimize turnaround time to ensure test results fall within the 48 hour window stipulated by the Arkansas Department of Health directive,” according to a statement from the hospital.

Washington Regional has lab equipment producing test results rapidly.

“At this time, however, we have limited test kits on hand, and we are reserving the rapid test resource for acute hospitalized patients and symptomatic health care workers. We are uncertain as to timing of receiving additional test kits,” said Natalie Hardin, spokeswoman for Washington Regional.

Washington Regional’s North Hills Surgery Center, which was temporarily closed, is doing procedures that can no longer be deferred, according to Hardin.

Washington Regional plans to recall some furloughed employees when it resumes some procedures, Hardin said. The system furloughed 305 full-time employees earlier this month for 60 days.

Northwest Health, which has five hospitals in the region, announced Friday it would resume elective

surgeries Monday.

The surgeries are limited to generally healthy patients per state requirements, said Dr. Joshua Mourot, chairman of Northwest Health’s surgery department.

The American Society of Anesthesiologists ranks health on a scale of one through five with one being the healthiest. Patients must be ranked a one or two to qualify for surgery, Mourot said.

A patient in the second classification may have well-managed diabetes or high blood pressure, for example, he said. Patients in the first classification could still require surgery, such as knee replacement or gallbladder surgery. A healthy athlete could have a hernia, Mourot said.

The idea is to start with a small number of surgical patients in part because they must all be tested for covid-19.

Northwest Health, like other facilities, is trying to test anyone with covid-19 symptoms, so having enough testing kits to also test asymptomatic surgical patients and to schedule the surgeries within 48 hours is the biggest hurdle, Mourot said.

Northwest Health has ample tests for people who need them, but if that changes, it may need to pull back on elective surgeries.

Elective surgeries are scheduled surgeries that can sometimes wait a few weeks or months.

“People think they’re not necessary and can wait forever, and that’s not true,” Mourot said.

Removing a tumor, for example, may be considered urgent depending on the patient, he said.

Information on when Mercy Northwest Arkansas plans to resume elective procedures wasn’t available Tuesday. Alex Golden can be reached by email at agolden@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAalexgolden.