As COVID-19 cases surge again, four major health care organizations release updated guidance on maintaining essential surgery during the ongoing pandemic

CHICAGO: Hospitals in many regions across the United States are now reporting near or at bed and ICU capacity due to the resurgence of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is presenting new challenges in meeting the needs of patients who require essential surgical procedures. To provide guidance during the COVID-19 resurgence, the American College of Surgeons (ACS), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), and American Hospital Association (AHA) have released an updated collaborative document, “Joint Statement: Roadmap for Maintaining Essential Surgery during COVID-19 Pandemic.”

The Roadmap addresses the dual need to meet health care demands for patients who are hospitalized with COVID-19 as well as care for patients who need essential surgical services. It also calls out that the “need for centralized coordinated governmental action to deploy necessary supplies and alleviate the financial burden on physician practices, health care providers and facilities is critical so the health care community can continue to meet the increasing demands for care of COVID-19 patients both in the operating rooms and throughout the facility.”

The COVID-19 case surge varies regionally, the document notes, presenting a roadmap that addresses that issue along with other principles and considerations to guide physicians, nurses, and local facilities in their care in operating and procedure rooms during the ongoing pandemic. Eight principles specifically addressed with specific considerations to implement are:

1. Regional Cooperation Critical to Continuing to Provide Essential Surgery
2. Supply Chain
3. COVID-19 Testing within a Facility
4. Personal Protective Equipment
5. Case Prioritization and Scheduling
6. COVID-19 Issues for the Five Phases of Surgical Care
7. Collection and Management of Data
8. COVID-related Safety and Risk Mitigation

The Roadmap concludes with mentioning several more COVID-19 related issues for consideration, including health care worker well-being, relying on evidence-based information for cleaning areas before invasive procedures, and facility-demands to address other ongoing issues (e.g., the ongoing opioid epidemic, preventative care, and social determinants of health).

Read the updated Joint Statement: Roadmap for Maintaining Essential Surgery during COVID-19 Pandemic HERE.

About the American College of Surgeons

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has approximately 90,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. "FACS" designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

About the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses

The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) supports the professional practice of more than 200,000 perioperative nurses by providing evidence-based research, education, standards, and practice resources—including Guidelines for Perioperative Practice -- to keep health care workers safe and enable optimal outcomes for patients undergoing operative and other invasive procedures. For more information, visit http://www.aorn.org.

About American Society of Anesthesiologists

Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) is an educational, research and scientific society with more than 54,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology. ASA is committed to ensuring physician anesthesiologists evaluate and supervise the medical care of patients before, during and after surgery to provide the highest quality and safest care every patient deserves. For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists online at asahq.org. For updated information, resources and education related to COVID-19, please visit www.asahq.org/covid19info. To learn more about the role physician anesthesiologists play in ensuring patient safety, visit asahq.org/WhenSecondsCount. Like ASA on Facebook, follow ASALifeline on Twitter.

About the American Hospital Association

The American Hospital Association (AHA) is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA advocates on behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners – including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers – and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides insight and education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.

To speak with a representative, contact:

Sally Garneski
Senior Manager of Public Profile and Visibility
American College of Surgeons
(312) 202-5409
pressinquiry@facs.org

Gayle Davis
Director, Corporate Communications
Association of periOperative Registered Nurses
(303) 928-9105
gdavis@aorn.org

Theresa Hill
Director of Public Relations
American Society of Anesthesiologists
(773) 330-5273
t.hill@asahq.org

Colin Milligan
Director, Media Relations
American Hospital Association
(202) 638-5491
cmilligan@aha.org