As the curve of COVID-19 cases starts to flatten,
surgeons, patients, and facilities are making plans to resume hip and knee
replacement surgery.
First and foremost we want to protect our patients and
healthcare providers while tending to our patients with painful joints. How we
make this transition from no elective surgery to "business as usual" will be a
challenge. Depending on the state of the pandemic in any location, plans
may vary. In the next week we will start seeing patients for pre-op visits to
get this process started. There are several moving parts including pre-op
medical clearances, labs, insurance authorization among others. We plan on having COVID-19 testing for all
elective patients prior to surgery to confirm the patients are negative.
Our
hospital has adopted a policy of all healthcare workers having masks and
encouraging all patients to wear a mask. There will be some limitation on folks
bringing and picking up patients after surgery. Instead of going to the waiting
room to meet family members/significant others/ friends after surgery, that
task for the short run may be done over the phone to encourage social
distancing.
After surgery, the Joint Center (which has moved to the 7th
floor of the VMC south tower) will look very similar to before the pandemic but,
for now, visitors will only come up to get instructions for discharge prior to
the patient going home.
The same great nursing and therapy care will continue.
For knee replacements, post-op outpatient physical therapy will continue with
social distancing. The actual surgery remains unchanged for hip and knee
replacement.
We look forward to once again caring for our patients with end
stage hip and knee arthritis. We are all in this together and with team work we
can return to a "new normal" over time. I would like to thank everyone in
healthcare who have risen to the task at hand and helped the world deal with
this crisis.