Island Health is resuming elective surgeries with new measures in place to keep patients, staff and medical staff safe.
We are now in the process of contacting patients to determine their health status and whether they are willing and able to move forward with surgery. We recognize some individuals may wish to continue to postpone their surgery.
To limit the number of patients requiring in-person pre-surgical assessments, Island Health is implementing new procedures to support virtual assessments, wherever possible and appropriate. These services will include virtual assessments, consultations and individual or group education sessions.
To minimize the risk of transmission of COVID-19, a number of measures are being implemented as part of the surgical process:
- When possible, patients will be assessed through a virtual pre-admission clinic by video conference prior to surgery.
- Modified scheduling and workflows to maintain physical distancing.
- Enhanced screening and assessment of patients prior to surgery.
- Surgeries will be scheduled with time to accommodate additional cleaning and infection control measures.
For patients who have had their surgery postponed, Island Health will call you to determine next steps. Those individuals will be rescheduled based on priority determined by their surgeon.
Island Health will resume performing scheduled elective surgical procedures after the May long weekend as part of the Province’s Surgical Renewal Plan. Across B.C., 30,000 scheduled surgeries were postponed to ensure capacity in our hospitals to support patients with COVID-19. Approximately 4,000 of those surgeries are in the Island Health region.
For more information about COVID-19, please visit islandhealth.ca/covid19.