Ascension Wisconsin is reopening access in some locations to certain non-urgent and medically necessary procedures and primary and specialty care clinic appointments.
Dr. Gregory Brusko is Chief Clinical Officer for Ascension Wisconsin. He says they recently began the planning for reopening services. He says they developed a robust plan that considers clinical guidelines for opening, visitor guidelines, imaging, making the facilities be as safe as possible, staffing and other concerns...
"There are lots of parallel paths of work being done in order to ready us both on the clinic side and the ambulatory clinic side to begin to bring patients back into our facility that have in varying capacities have been postponed in the past month and a half or so..."
Dr. Brusco says until further notice, all Ascension Wisconsin facilities—hospitals, emergency rooms, clinics and offices—will continue infection prevention precautions to minimize the exposure risks related to COVID-19. He says there will be additional testing for the returning patients..
"Pre-procedure testing in our protocol is what's called a PCR test which is done 48 hours before the procedure. Assuming that test result in negative, on the day of the procedure when they present, they will be screened to include a non-invasive temperature..."
There are other conditions as well.
Ascension Wisconsin facilities will maintain temporary visitor restrictions and screening protocols for individuals entering hospitals. Following their screening and testing, patients will be asked to self-quarantine until their surgery.
There's a website with more information at healthcare.ascension. org /COVID 19.
