Kona Community Hospital has resumed a limited number of elective outpatient services and procedures including imaging, respiratory therapy, rehabilitation services and surgery.
Kona Community Hospital has resumed a limited number of elective outpatient services and procedures including imaging, respiratory therapy, rehabilitation services and surgery.
The Hawaii Health Systems Corp. facility on March 19 paused all elective, nonemergent procedures in order to manage and plan for the COVID-19 pandemic. Amid the hiatus, many patients have had to postpone important procedures that address health issues.
Kona Community Hospital is gradually resuming elective procedures while closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation in West Hawaii.
Emergent surgical procedures address immediately life-threatening conditions while elective or nonemergent procedures often provide lifesaving treatment to keep people alive and healthy.
“In alignment with our emergency management plan to be prepared for a possible surge, we will also monitor hospital utilization such as PPE inventory supplies and use rates, as well as staffing availability,” said Dr. Scott Cassidy, COVID-19 Incident Commander at Kona Community Hospital.
The Incident Command team is working with guidelines developed by the American Hospital Association, American College of Surgeons, American Society of Anesthesiologists and Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) to ensure the safety of elective procedures.
Patients whose procedures were postponed will be contacted to schedule those procedures with the Kealakekua-based hospital.
