Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/1316512
T he events of 2020 have changed our nation forever. The struggles and stresses of the past year will also fuel change within surgery, which is poised to become safer, proactive and more inclusive. Outpatient facilities demonstrated their trademark nimbleness when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down elective surgeries, forc- ing staff to implement new patient care and infection prevention protocols in a matter of weeks before ORs could reopen. Decisions that would have taken months to sort out were made in days. During the shutdown, scores of surgical professionals cared for COVID-19 patients in ICUs. They were out of their element, but right where they belonged, answering the call alongside other dedicated healthcare professionals. Surgeons have been forced to communi- cate virtually with patients, and both groups learned to love online appointments. Calls for social justice from Black Lives Matter protesters were heard in ORs, where advo- cates continue to strive for a more diverse and inclusive workforce. Surgical professionals, who are already pushed to their mental and physical limits, persevere as the pandemic rages on. They're moving forward into an uncertain future with the experiences of the past year preparing them for whatever comes next. Pivoting during the first wave The staff at Proliance Eastside Surgery Center in Kirkland, Wash., must feel like grizzled veterans when it comes to working during a pandemic. In late February, a nearby long-term skilled nursing facility saw its first resident with COVID-19. Within weeks, 81 residents of the facility, 34 of its staff members and 14 visitors contracted COVID. Twenty-three of them died. That put Proliance Eastside squarely in one of the original hot spots for COVID-19 in the United States. With multiple deaths in the same county, the center's staff had to pivot and instantly change the way they operated. They began by screening patients for symptoms of the virus in the building's foyer. More attention was paid to surface cleaning during room turnovers. When PPE vendors called during the weeks that followed, their typical sales pitches to buy more supplies than the center need- ed were replaced with alerts of a rationing system that meant the center would be getting a smaller percentage of masks, gowns and gloves — items it desperately needed. With the community in crisis because of the nearly two dozen deaths at a nearby nursing home, some Proliance Eastside employees weren't able to work full-time because they had children whose schools had closed or older parents who needed care. As would soon be the case at outpatient facili- ties nationwide, Proliance Eastside limited its case- load to emergent procedures. Fast forward to November — a full nine months after the first wave of the pandemic — and the changes caused by the coronavirus seem anything but novel. "We're still in the middle of it, and anoth- D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T • 2 5 PUT TO THE TEST Proliance Eastside Surgery Center was among the first facilities in the country forced to adopt completely new policies and procedures. Proliance Eastside Surgery Center