Bay Area Hospital Resumes Elective Surgeries, May 15

BAH release – As of Monday, May 11th, Bay Area Hospital has re-opened several service lines to accommodate elective surgeries. A multidisciplinary team at the hospital has been working hard to design a process whereby these services can be offered in a way that maximizes patient and staff safety. Elective surgery cases have been scheduled at a 50% capacity to being with, and these cases being scheduled are being prioritized by Bay Area Hospital’s medical staff to ensure that the needs of the patient are being met appropriately. Any patient that schedules a surgery at the hospital is being tested preoperatively for COVID-19 to ensure that our patients are in the best health before their procedure, and to help reduce the chance of spreading the disease to staff and other patients. Twenty percent inpatient capacity is being maintained to accommodate for and maintain Bay Area Hospital’s ability to respond to a potential surge in COVID-19 cases. Preoperative education surrounding COVID-19 and precautions the hospital is taking has been developed for patients and their families. The hospital has a plan in place to closely monitor our surgical cases and compliance with the Governor’s orders. An Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 rapid testing system was recently granted to Bay Area Hospital from the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) that allows the hospital to test patients for COVID-19 with a rough processing time of about 15 minutes. This machine is the fastest available molecular point-of-care test for the detection of COVID-19; testing capabilities for this machine will only be used in situations where a rapid turn-around time is clinically justified as supplies required to run these tests are limited.  In order to continue to keep our patients and staff safe, Bay Area Hospital continues to maintain the restriction of visitors to the facility in an effort to reduce the volume of traffic through the hospital and to help maintain appropriate physical distancing. Screening and masking of staff remains in place for the safety of our staff and patients. All staff in direct contact with patients are required to wear a medical-grade face mask to stop the potential asymptomatic spread of COVID-19; the hospital’s supply chain for personal protective equipment (PPE) has been modified to ensure that a reliable source for masks, both procedural masks and N95 masks are available to our staff. The hospital has also increased the frequency of environmental cleaning to provide for a safer physical environment. Bay Area Hospital continues to prioritize the safety of our staff, providers, patients, and limited visitors. If you have questions or need additional information please contact Kelli Dion, Public Information Officer and Chief Quality Officer at (541) 269- 8185.