As Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare begins to resume some elective procedures, people may have questions about how MLH is deciding which procedures will begin in this phased-in approach. Here’s a look behind the scenes of elective procedures resuming at MLH.

How has COVID-19 changed the way elective procedures are conducted?

In our entire process of resuming elective surgeries, safety has always been the top priority — safety for our patients, staff members and providers.

The biggest change due to COVID-19 is the fact that people can be carrying the virus and not show or experience any symptoms. If a COVID-19 positive patient is brought into an Operating Room for a procedure, they could spread the virus through coughs or sneezes. That could potentially put staff members, physicians and potentially follow-up patients at risk of exposure.

We have now adjusted our cleaning process to a more terminal cleaning.

The Operating Room goes out of service for a couple hours. Staff members use UV lights for any signs of contaminants as well as other processes. The new process increases the amount of time between surgeries. We also require patients to undergo a COVID-19 test within 96 hours of their operation.

What has changed during an operation?

Operating rooms are now being conducted as negative-pressure rooms. That prevents airborne diseases from escaping the room and potentially infecting other people. Air is filtered before it is moved outside.

It is the same process that has been followed for any operation on a Tuberculosis patient.

Our surgical teams wear more extensive PPE as an added layer of protection. We have also reduced the number of people inside the operating room once a patient is sedated. When there are fewer people inside the operating room, the risk of contamination goes way down.

What is the process of deciding which elective procedures will happen first?

During phase one of reopening, we are focusing on outpatient cases. This way patients don’t utilize hospital resources overnight or during a hospital stay that lasts multiple days.

We also have some procedures where a patient will have surgery in the early part of the morning and will be discharged the following morning.

Our goal is to get our phase one patients in and out as quickly and safely as possible. We are slowly working toward cases that could take longer and might need an ICU stay or a ventilator. We are basing those decisions on our status of beds, ventilators, and PPE.

What might cause my procedure to be further delayed?

Methodist Le Bonheur is going through delayed elective surgeries on a case by case basis. A team of health experts are following extensive guidelines for the best practices of which cases can be delayed — without causing harm to the patient. At this time, procedures that are purely elective like plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures are still on hold.

What should I do if my surgery is on hold – is there any way to get an update?

Providers are calling patients with updates about rescheduling procedures. Our medical teams are going through the backlog of elective cases. If you have any questions about the status of your procedure, contact your provider.

How is MLH deciding when to increase the number of elective procedures?

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare is going slow, in order to go fast.

For phase one, we are operating at 50% our normal case load. We’re predicting that phase one will last about two weeks.

We are monitoring several critical data points daily to ensure we are following the best practices for safety for everyone. We look at how many ICU beds are being used, how much PPE we have across the system and how many COVID cases are in all of Shelby County.

When it is safe to enter phase two, MLH will move to a 75-80% case load. We do not want to rush to a normal schedule immediately and then have a huge upsurge with the surrounding community reopening.

With social distancing softening and restaurants opening, we have to factor in the community spread of COVID-19 as we slowly open also.