Island Health is resuming elective surgeries across Vancouver Island with new measures in place to keep patients and staff safe.
A statement from the health authority says patients are being contacted to determine their health status and if they are willing and able to move forward with surgery.
“We recognize some individuals may wish to continue to postpone their surgery,” the statement said.
New procedures include virtual assessments, consultations and individual or group education sessions.
READ ALSO: COVID-19: B.C. hospitals getting some scheduled surgeries done
Other measures such as modified scheduling and workflows to maintain physical distancing, enhanced screening and assessment of patients pre-surgery and scheduling surgeries with time to accommodate additional cleaning and infection control measures are also being implemented. Before surgery, patients will be assessed through a virtual pre-admission clinic by video conference when possible.
Island Health will call patients who had their surgery postponed to determine next steps. They will be rescheduled based on priority, determined by their surgeon.
As part of the province’s surgical renewal plan, Island Health will resume elective surgeries after the May long weekend. According to the health authority, 30,000 scheduled surgeries were postponed across B.C. to ensure capacity in hospitals to support COVID-19 patients. Approximately 4,000 of those surgeries were in the Island Health region.
READ ALSO: COVID-19: Postponed surgeries will be done, B.C. health minister says
