West Virginia hospitals to limit elective surgeries in wake of COVID-19 surge

“Albert Wright is genuinely, really concerned that our hospitals are going to be overrun,” Justice said. “In a phone conversation I had with (West Virginia COVID-19 czar) Clay Marsh, I said … at this point in time, if truly we are going to be overrun in our hospitals, if we’re truly going there, we need to move immediately upon that guidance to stop elective surgeries. ...

“What are we going to do about it — sit around on our hands and not do anything? That wouldn’t be very bright, would it? So, we’re going to cut back on our surgeries so we’ll be able to have space.”

Marsh echoed the governor’s concerns, noting that cases of COVID-19 in the state at an all-time high, but the resources needed to care for those patients are limited.

“We now have more West Virginians in West Virginia hospitals (and ICUs) than we’ve ever had before,” Marsh said. “Also, we have more West Virginians on ventilators from COVID than we had before. …

“One of the biggest risks for us as a state is to see a surge happen, a big increase in the number of people going to hospitals and hospital emergency rooms and hospital beds and ICUs, because after a while, that consumes a lot of the resources of these hospitals.”

Marsh said state leaders spoke over the phone with West Virginia Hospital Association officials earlier Monday to discuss limiting elective surgeries. He said each hospital has its own surge plan, and that the state has requested that each hospital update its plan to reflect where the state currently stands regarding the pandemic.

While not all elective surgeries will be halted, Marsh said hospitals have been encouraged to push back nonemergency procedures and find a balance between the priority of regular patients and those suffering from COVID-19.

“There is a great willingness for all hospitals to work together to make sure we’re maintaining that critical capacity that we need in the state of West Virginia and that we can keep our most sophisticated hospitals — the ones that can provide the most cutting-edge, complex care that our citizens may need as the pandemic goes forward, open and available,” Marsh said.

While he didn’t go into details, Justice said the limitation of elective surgeries will likely be just the first prohibition put in place this week.

“We’re looking really, really hard at pinpointing some of these counties and areas and having to go towards more stringent mitigation, and it may very well be that, on Wednesday, we’ll announce more stringent mitigation in those counties to be able to slow down,” Justice said. “We’re going to continue with all in us to do all we can possibly do.”

With the state now mourning 735 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic started and dealing with 16,787 active cases — a record high — Marsh said everyone must do their part in stopping the virus from spreading any further, as it has the potential to do much more damage over the next few months.

“What we see is that perhaps the worst days are ahead of us as people go inside and may be against wearing masks and physically distancing,” Marsh said. “What we’re seeing now is this is starting to accelerate around our country, and we’re seeing the first parts of that acceleration in West Virginia. … We really need to push down on the brakes as much as we can on those drivers. Each one of us has the power to push down on those brakes.”