Hospitals and healthcare systems are gradually reopening under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to resume delayed medical care procedures, such as heart valve replacements, angioplasty, tumor removals and colonoscopies.
“We are in a position to begin to schedule surgeries once again throughout the hospital system and also our broader healthcare delivery system,” Newsom said at an online press conference.
Scheduled surgeries had been deferred since March 19 based on Gov. Newsom’s executive order N-33-20 to allow facilities the space to prepare for a surge of COVID-19 patients.
“There are a lot of surgery centers that don’t treat COVID-19 patients and there are larger hospitals that will have COVID-19 patients in the same facilities and those facilities will have proper protections in place, such as sequestering COVID-19 positive patients away from other patients who are not positive,” said California Medical Association’s Anthony York. “We are sending the message that the doctor’s office is safe and if people need care, they should get it.” The decision to broaden the healthcare system to resume scheduled surgeries was based on six indicators.
- Expanding testing and contact tracing to be able to identify and isolate those with the virus;
- Preventing infection in people who are most at risk;
- Being able to handle surges in hospitals and the health care delivery system;
- Developing therapeutics to meet demand;
- Ensuring businesses, schools and child care facilities can support physical distancing; and
- Determining when to reinstate certain measures like the stay-at-home order if need be
"We are tracking in a range of stability,” said Secretary of the Health and Human Services Agency Dr. Mark Ghaly at the press conference. “We have had small peaks but we have generally stayed in the zone of stability since March 27 and that gives us confidence that we are prepared to move forward with some of our modifications.
”As of April 27, 2020, there were 43,464 positive coronavirus cases statewide with 1,755 deaths, according to the Department of Health. Of those, on April 24, 2020, 545 were residents who died in long term care facilities from coronavirus and 5,770 of positive confirmed cases were residents and staff in long term care facilities.
Because long term care facilities never closed they are ahead of the curve when it comes to special operating procedures under a pandemic. For example, when elderly residents at HCR ManorCare facilities are in the final stages of life, only one family member can visit in person, the rest, including pets, can say goodbye by iPad or telephone and in some cases through a window.
“That is our new normal,” said Julie Beckert, spokesperson and assistant vice-president of marketing and communications with HCR ManorCare, which maintains 20 long term care facilities in California.
Another precaution is checking the temperature and monitoring coronavirus symptoms with a series of six questions for visitors and employees upon entering and exiting a facility.
The series of questions, posed to visitors and staff alike, include whether a person has a fever, tightness in their chest, a cough, respiratory symptoms and if they have noticed a change in taste or smell.
“We have iPads so that last rites can be administered remotely by clergy,” Beckert told the Southern California Record.
Experts predict that in the future, as a result of the coronavirus, more families will opt to care for their elderly relatives at home rather than placing them in long term care facilities.
“We will see more multigenerational homes post COVID-19,” said Kenya Nicholas, author of Life Books for Kids.
In the meantime, the state is doing what it can to accommodate caregivers by providing hotel stipends for those who are supporting seniors in skilled nursing homes so that after a long shift, they are able to stay in a nearby hotel rather than drive a long way home.
“We have procured 56,000 room nights that are 100% reimbursed to manifest phase one care for our caregivers,” Gov. Newsom said. “Nineteen thousand have filled out the application and we hope thousands more will. Reimbursement is based on income. People with higher incomes will receive the benefit based on a sliding scale.”