COVID-19 Update: ODH announces elective surgery order

4/27/2020 Update: On April 27, 2020, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced a “health care opening” for May 1, 2020, which will allow providers to move forward with procedures that do not require an overnight stay. In addition, dentists can move “full steam ahead.” 

On April 22, 2020, Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Amy Acton announced an order that directs health care providers in hospitals and outpatient surgery centers to reassess procedures and surgeries that were postponed as a result of her March 17 order, which deferred elective surgeries in order to conserve critical personal protective equipment (PPE) and to open bed space needed to care for COVID-19 patients.

Doctors and patients should consider the current health situations and make joint decisions about whether or not to proceed with non-COVID-19 procedures. Conditions that may have a significant impact on the patient’s quality of life should also be evaluated.

The order also requires that patients be informed of the risk of contracting COVID-19 and potential COVID-19 impact during the post-operative recovery process.