Elective surgeries, which are seen as the primary revenue generator for hospitals, are currently not allowed in Erie County unless specific approval is granted by the New York State Department of Health. Catholic Health announced on Wednesday that their three locations in Erie County will resume elective surgeries early next week after receiving permission to do so from the state.
Kaleida Health and ECMC have both applied for permission and are awaiting their results from the state.
"It's important that we really have enough information before we reopen a community," Catholic Health CEO Mark Sullivan said. "I think that's what's important to note. If you have data and you can exemplify high quality, a good plan, a predictable plan that can be implemented or nimble like Catholic Health's plan for elective surgeries, then that is a little bit of a shining light on opportunity for a county or region."
"It's one of the reasons why over a week ago I said we could do electives because we had at least two to three weeks of data which showed that our numbers with regards to hospitalizations were such that we had a high capacity of beds and ICU units," Poloncarz said. "I'm very happy to see that the New York State Department of Health authorized Catholic Health to perform those elective surgeries."
Hospital bed capacity represents only two of the seven metrics needed for a region in New York State to reopen. All regions must have at least 30 percent of total beds available and at least 30 percent of ICU beds available in order to reopen in case there is an outbreak within the community as social distancing measures relax. Erie County has a 46 percent total bed capacity and 40 percent of their ICU beds available.
But there are still other factors like hospitalization and death declines, testing capabilities, and contract tracing standards that must be met.
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"None of the Upstate regions meet the testing requirements is my understanding," Poloncarz said. "The hospitalizations is out of my control other than to tell people to stay home and follow social distancing guidelines."
