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Sarah Downey hosts ‘5 Questions’ on gradually restarting procedures and elective surgeries at MGH
Sarah Downey, president and CEO of Michael Garron Hospital (MGH), interviews Mark Fam, VP Programs and Dr. Carmine Simone Chief of Surgery and Medical Director of Surgical Health Services about how clinical programs have been impacted at MGH due to COVID-19 and the hospital’s plans for reopening services.
You have questions and Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) has answers.
In March 2020, Ontario hospitals were asked to put scheduled surgeries and procedures on hold to conserve critical personal protective equipment (PPE) and ensure the safe delivery of care for patients with COVID-19 and those requiring urgent services and support.
Recently, the Ontario Government provided hospitals and other health care providers with the green light to assess readiness and slowly begin to schedule surgeries and procedures again.
This is a gradual process that will take weeks and months, and will vary from region to region based on what is happening locally. There is no one-size fits all or “start” button for resuming this work across the whole province. Hospitals need to follow the Province’s operational requirements and are expected also to use its framework to plan and coordinate resuming scheduled care.
In this edition of “5 Questions with President and CEO Sarah Downey” video series, Sarah interviews Mark Fam, Vice President of Programs and Dr. Carmine Simone, Chief of Surgery and Medical Director of Surgical Health Services about how programs and services at MGH have been impacted due to COVID-19 and the hospital’s plans for gradually resuming procedures and elective surgeries in the coming weeks and months.
Watch the video to find out the answers to the following 5 questions:
- When COVID-19 began, how much did MGH ‘ramp down’ its services and how do we safely ramp back up? (0:35)
Key points: In mid-March hospitals across the provinces received Directive #2 from the Government, which directed all hospitals to ramp down services, in particular elective care, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In coordination with partners across the region, MGH’s reduced its surgical volumes to less than 25%, and emergency and inpatient services were reduced by 50%.
- How many patients are waiting and for what services? How will we catch up? (1:50)
Key points: 75-80% of MGH’s elective surgeries have been postponed or cancelled as a result of COVID-19. As MGH begins to ramp up its surgical services this month, urgent surgical cases will be seen first and the remaining elective cases will be completed by the end of the year. We are actively working to resume these surgeries as soon as possible. Patients will be contacted by their surgeon’s office with details on rescheduled surgeries.
- What will happen to staff currently redeployed to other areas of the hospital? (3:50)
Key points: Redeployed staff will gradually and thoughtfully return to their former roles. That said COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on the organization and will result in modifications to staff roles and responsibilities as well as hospital policies, procedures and operations.
- How is the ‘new normal’ different than how we delivered surgical and outpatient services before COVID-19? (5:13)
Key points: MGH has learned a lot from COVID-19 and the hospital’s new normal has been redefined. Moving forward, practices such as physical distancing, patient screening and virtual care will remain in place as part of regular hospital operations.
- Is it possible that we will have to ramp down again? How are those decisions made? (7:05)
Key points: If the province saw another peak in COVID-19 cases, MGH would strategically ramp down its services in coordination with partners across the region to ensure that it could continue to safely provide urgent care. The hospital would strive to retain as many services as possible in order to minimize the impact to ongoing patient care.
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