B.C. could halt ‘elective’ surgeries to keep doctors safe, free up hospital space amid COVID-19

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – If you’re one of the thousands of British Columbians on a surgery waitlist, the COVID-19 pandemic won’t delay your procedure – for now. 

But so-called “elective” surgeries could soon be postponed as the province looks to free up hospital space and keep health-care workers safe. 

B.C.’s official pandemic response plan includes “discharging low-risk patients” and “deferring scheduled surgeries and procedures” when needed.

The province may begin “slowing down scheduled surgeries,” B.C Health Minister Adrian Dix said Wednesday. He noted what are commonly called “elective surgeries” aren’t really optional, “just scheduled.”

“We’re certainly prepared for those circumstances should they happen,” he said.

‘We already struggle’

But postponing scheduled surgeries would stretch already long waiting lists. As of Jan. 31, 6,513 people were waiting for a knee replacement and 3,299 were waiting for a hip replacement.

“We already struggle with a system to keep up to date with our elective surgeries,” Dr. Kathleen Ross, president of Doctors of BC, told NEWS 1130. “So it would be appropriate for us to continue caring for patients to the best of our ability until our public health officer directs us otherwise.”

If B.C. does defer some surgeries, it could also help keep doctors safe – some of whom are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 than others.

Dr. Roland Orfaly, CEO of the B.C. Anesthesiologists’ Society, said physicians with his specialization are particularly vulnerable to catching viruses spread via droplets, of which the novel coronavirus is one.

‘Highest risk’ doctors could be infected

That’s because anesthesiologists intubate surgery patients by placing a tube down the throat to keep them breathing while they are unconscious.

“It is viewed as the highest risk medical procedure in terms of virus transmission because we’re potentially exposed directly to the respiratory droplets from the throat [and] from the lungs,” Orfaly explained. “And that’s not just an issue in terms of personal risk and risk to their family – but it’s also in terms of having those health-care workers available for the next patient and hundreds of patients after that.”

According to Orfaly, if a patient is known or suspected to have COVID-19, everyone in the operating room wears an N95 face-mask, eye protection, face protection, waterproof gowns and gloves.

But those precautions use up equipment that’s in limited supply and can cause procedures to take twice as long, Orfaly said. 

“The concern is that it’s not practical to say that we’re going to take COVID precautions for every single patient having surgery in the province,” he said. 

As for when B.C. should be a slow or halt to surgeries, Orfaly said, “there’s not a perfect answer to that.”