Executive Order Allows Hospitals in West Virginia To Restart Elective Procedures – By Steven Allen Adams (The Intelligencer) / April 21 2020
CHARLESTON — Hospitals in West Virginia could start offering elective procedures by the end of April under a new executive order signed by Gov. Jim Justice Monday.
Hospitals wishing to restart elective surgical procedures can request approval from the Department of Health and Human Resources starting Monday to offer elective procedures. It’s the first step in a long process to slowly begin re-opening the state’s economy since being shut down March 23.
“We’ll take baby steps in starting back, and those steps will be done on the advice of our experts,” Justice said. “We have got to start the engines back. We have got to start back, and I can assure you we’ll start back as safely as we possibly can, but there is no chance we can avoid 100 percent of the risk. There’s risk on both sides.”
Justice’s executive order will allow hospitals to use the next seven days to make sure they’re ready and prepared to reopen next week. The hospital would then need to submit to DHHR and meet specific criteria – such as having enough personal protective equipment and other supplies – before getting the green light from the state to restart.
“We have to restart our hospitals,” Justice said. “We have to restart from the elective surgeries and form the general care that maybe you’ve been laying to the side that you need to do. Because if you don’t do some of those things, we could very well lose you too.”
Dr. Clay Marsh, the state coronavirus czar, said the state is enthusiastic about being able to re-open hospitals for other medical services. Marsh said it was a sign that the state hospital system can now handle potential surges of severe coronavirus cases with being over-extended and that health professionals were not at risk of running out of personal protective equipment. It was also a sign that state residents were taking social distancing requirements seriously.
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