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Elective surgeries can begin at hospitals with enough available capacity starting Monday. CHI Health says they are prepared to begin procedures, but start slow and ramp up.
Patients at C.H.I. will need a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their elective procedure, which CHI says will help save some personal protective equipment.
Derek Vance is president of CHI Health St. Elizabeth and CHI Health Nebraska Heart. He said he won’t predict how fast the number of surgeries will ramp up, but the hospitals are monitoring increasing COVID-19 cases in the Lincoln area.
“We are not going to jump back into this as if we never closed it," Vance said. "Again, we’ve gotta watch this, this will be a day by day management, making sure we have enough supplies to get us through. So, you know, we’ll start at a fraction of what we would normally do and just gradually ramp that up as we’re able to do so.”
Most visitors will still not be allowed at the hospital. CHI said they will coordinate with Bryan Health on when to allow regular visitors again.
WATCH: Daily News Update, April 28