BUTLER, Pa. — Three days have passed with no new COVID-19 cases in Butler County. It’s a marker Butler Memorial Hospital is pointing to in its decision to restart elective procedures.
As of Monday, Butler Memorial Hospital was treating six coronavirus patients. The hospital was not at capacity and officials are working to get elective surgeries up and running again.
“We’re finally seeing a lull,” said Dr. David Rottinghaus, BHS medical director.
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Outpatient visits, admissions, surgeries and procedures will begin again on a limited basis. The hospital formed a reopening committee, basing decisions on guidelines from the Department of Health among other groups.
“It’s all relative to what you think elective is. We have people that are waiting for hip surgeries, therapies, procedures,” Rottinghaus said.
The reopening committee plans to keep an eye on how the new elective surgery plans go. The procedures will either be expanded or dialed back based on coronavirus activity over the next few weeks.
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