HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has launched a partial reopening of certain activities across the state, with phase one including restarting elective surgeries that had been cancelled due to the pandemic.
Dr. Stanley Marks of Memorial Healthcare said, “We are going to be open for business.”
Hospitals like Memorial Regional in Hollywood have been consumed with coronavirus patients, but they are finally beginning to switch back to a normal routine.
Marks said, “We have set up essentially a pre-admission testing facility.”
That means anyone coming in for an elective surgery at any Memorial location will be tested for COVID-19 before entering the hospital.
Tens of thousands of procedures were put off as doctors in all fields were forced to fight the virus.
Marks said, “As my colleagues behind me began to speak about the other kinds of diseases that we care for here at Memorial, those diseases haven’t gone away.”
Dr. Brijesh Mehta, the Medical Director for neuro-interventional service, said, “We are ready. We have all the safety protocols in place.”
Dr. Brett Cohen, the Chief of Adult General Surgery, said, “In the offices, patients come in as an individual appointment and won’t run into anybody else. The waiting rooms have been changed so that chairs are spaced out.”
This comes as Memorial takes part in a remdesivir trial, treating 10 patients so far with the drug.
The FDA approved treatment using remdesivir for critically-ill patients.
Patients with coronavirus are being kept from other areas of the hospital.
Marks said, “Hospitals are safe. This hospital and our healthcare system’s hospitals are certainly safe.”
While elective surgeries are expected to begin on May 11, the situation remains fluid and should numbers change drastically, that date could be adjusted.
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