UPMC shuns health experts' calls to cancel elective surgeries

Pittsburgh-based health giant UPMC on Tuesday rejected calls from county and state health experts to stop doing elective surgeries at its hospitals.

While acknowledging that some elective surgeries can be postponed, UPMC said they “cannot be delayed for long.”

“This is not the time for UPMC to diminish services to those who depend on us,” according to one of two statements issued by UPMC.

Dr. Debra Bogen, director of the Allegheny County Health Department, implored local health care providers to cancel elective surgeries in the coming days at all facilities, including hospitals and surgery centers.

“This step is necessary to ensure that our systems are beginning, in earnest, to prepare for the increased medical needs of the community related to covid-19,” she said in a statement Tuesday.

Other experts, including U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, have made similar pleas, saying the nation’s health care system does not have enough beds to manage a large influx of coronavirus patients.

Asked about those calls, UPMC officials issued the following statement:

“Balancing our patients’ ongoing clinical needs with the avoidance of unnecessary exposure requires a nuanced approach — not an across-the-board canceling of clinics and procedures,” a statement provided by UPMC spokesperson Paul Wood said. “UPMC recommends that ‘elective’ procedures for those that are at higher risk should be delayed only when it is clinically safe to do so. UPMC has a responsibility to the public and our care-providers to provide high-quality, safe care for all that we serve. We have a multidisciplinary team of experts closely monitoring the situation and will adjust accordingly. UPMC has been preparing since the outset of this virus emergence and before for other clinical challenges. Nothing we do will in any way diminish that preparation.”

UPMC will continue to provide patients with elective procedures and scheduled appointments, said a separate statement issued by UPMC on Monday.

As of March 16: UPMC facilities and practices are operating normally, and we are continuing to provide our patients with their elective procedures and scheduled appointments. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/9ySsykcDC6

— UPMC (@UPMCnews) March 16, 2020

Guidance provided to health systems from the state Department of Health said hospitals that have implemented an emergency preparedness plan should review all scheduled elective admissions, surgeries and procedures and develop a plan to postpone or cancel them.

UPMC did not immediately respond to questions asking whether the health system has implemented an emergency preparedness plan and what it would take to reevaluate canceling elective procedures.

County officials issued a statement saying local health care providers have been very supportive of requests from the health department and in many cases are doing what the department has suggested.

Allegheny Health Network, which operates seven hospitals and five surgery centers in Western Pennsylvania, is limiting nonemergency procedures but did not immediately respond to questions about how much of the health system’s normal operations those cancellations represent.

“Highmark Health and Allegheny Health Network support the county’s recommendation that all local hospitals and health systems postpone elective non-emergent surgical cases in the near term to further ensure that the community’s significant anticipated health care needs related to the covid-19 pandemic can be fully met,” a statement provided by AHN spokesperson Dan Laurent said. “In the spirit of this community-first mission, AHN has already moved forward with efforts to limit procedures to those that are considered emergent or planned but medically urgent. ”

AHN hospitals in Southwestern Pennsylvania include Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison, Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh’s North Side, West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood, Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, Canonsburg Hospital and Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills.

Excela Health, which operates in Westmoreland County, also is canceling elective surgeries.

“Excela Health started planning this week to cancel nonessential surgeries and, effective tomorrow, has canceled surgical procedures, both in-patient and in-surgery center, that are considered to be non-essential or elective in nature.” Dr. Carol Fox, Excela Health chief medical officer, said in a statement.

As of Tuesday, 879 people in Pennsylvania have tested negative for covid-19 and 96 have tested positive, according to figures provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Of those cases, those in Southwestern Pennsylvania include seven in Allegheny County, one in Beaver County and two in Washington County.