Elective Surgeries Resume Next Week In NJ. Here's How

NEW JERSEY - New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers will gradually resume full scope of services next week with under new guidance.

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Starting May 26, facilities resuming elective services are required to comply with state and CDC guidelines to protect against further spread of COVID-19, Persichilli said at Monday's COVID-19 briefing.

"They are required to institute screening of staff for symptoms and have policies in place for the removal of symptomatic employees. They must follow social distancing requirements in work and in other common areas. They will require masks for patients except patients receiving services that would not allow for masking," she said. "Additionally the patient's support person must be masked."

Persichilli noted that facilities should establish non-COVID care zones in facilities that serve COVID-19 and non-COVID patients and have an established plan for cleaning and disinfecting prior to using facilites to serve non-COVID patients.

"Facilities providing COVID-19 care should continue to prepare for potential surges," she said. "Facilities should be prepared to modify resumption of clinical services in conjunction with surge status and to repurpose and redeploy staff to urgent care roles to the extent feasible."

Persichilli said ambulatory centers will be permitted to perform procedures on COVID-19 patients and hospitals can if they have a sustained downward trajectory:

• within a 14-day period of influenza like illnesses; sustained downward trajectory of of COVID-19 infection rates;
• of COVID-19 hospitalizations;
• of COVID-19 emergency room admissions;
• of COVID-19 critical care, medical and surgical bed use;

Hospitals will need to monitor ventilator utilization and ventilator availability on a daily basis, Persichilli said, highlighting that hospitals should have available and staffed ICU medical and critical care surgical beds.

Facilities beginning treatment again need to:

• establish a prioritization policy for providing care and scheduling of these procedures; coordinate to promote social distancing;
• to minimize time in waiting areas;
• stage appointment hours;
• post signs at all entrances in appropriate languages about symptoms and precautions;

Facilities must also have a plan consistent with CDC and Department of Health recommendations for patient and patient support and patient use of PPE," Persichilli said. "They should implement PPE policies that account for inadequate available PPE supply with a minimum of a seven-day supply on hand."

The personal protection equipment mandates are:

• policies for staff training on and optimized use of PPE
• policies for conservation of PPE

The facilities also must implement disinfecting and cleaning protocols in cohort COVID-19 patients.

"Patients should be counseled to self quarantine following testing until the day of surgery," Persichilli said. "Facilities must have a process for screening COVID-19 patients prior to procedures."

Visitors will also not be allowed except under limited circumstances, such as:

• labor and delivery
• pediatric patient surgery
• support persons for those with mental illness or those with intellectual or developmental disabilities

The update comes as the number of new cases rose by 1,735 to an overall total of 148,039, and 83 more people died, raising that total to 10,435. Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

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