Beacon doctors urge patients to schedule COVID-delayed appointments, procedures and surgeries

Beacon Health System physicians are urging patients to start scheduling appointments again, from routine preventive care appointments to procedures and surgeries that are not considered urgent, as the number of COVID-19-positive patients continues to steadily decline in area hospitals and across the region.

Many hospitals here and across the country delayed nonemergent procedures during the most recent surge created by the omicron variant. This includes some orthopedic procedures, spinal surgeries and heart surgeries, such as heart valve replacements, and in some cases, procedures related to cancer care.

Beacon’s six hospitals are caring for 84 COVID-19-positive inpatients today, including 44 at Elkhart General Hospital and 34 at Memorial Hospital. This represents a 38% decline from 135 COVID patients requiring care in the hospital a month ago.

The number of COVID-positive inpatients this week dropped below 100 for the first time since Nov. 23.

“We still have a number of COVID patients needing care in the hospital, but we are able to get most of our surgery cases on now,” said Dr. Michelle Bache, vice president of medical affairs at Elkhart General Hospital. “We have opened up some additional overflow areas in the hospital and because of that we’re able to admit more surgical patients easier.”

After needing to delay some nonemergent procedures and surgeries to care for COVID-19 patients, Beacon physician leaders say it’s time to start scheduling some again as severe COVID-19 infections begin to decline.

The nation’s hospitals have seen a similar trend, recently, reporting 104,090 COVID-19-positive inpatients as of Tuesday, down 15% from 122,000 a week prior, according to U.S. Health and Human Services data.

“Our COVID numbers are declining, and we have half as many patients in the hospital now as we had at the top of the surge,” agreed Dr. Dale Patterson, vice president of medical affairs at Memorial Hospital. “We need to get people back in to take care of their medical problems that we haven’t been able to take care of. People need to get back in touch with their doctors and schedule the medical care that they need.”

When COVID infection rates have surged since the pandemic hit Michiana in early 2020, hospitals had to make the difficult decision to stop scheduling nonemergent procedures and surgeries because additional staff and inpatient beds were needed to care for COVID patients.

Dr. Patterson noted that it’s impossible to predict if or when another variant may reach our communities, so now is the time to schedule procedures that have been delayed.

“We have the capacity to take care of patients and we don’t know what will happen in the future, so if someone has been waiting for this to pass, they should take this opportunity to get in now and do that,” Patterson said. “We don’t know that things will get any better than they are now or if they’ll get worse again, so we don’t want them to put things off into the future.”

The doctor is in — and ready to help you

Doctors outside the hospitals also are eager to start resuming more non-COVID-related procedures.

Many patients have been reluctant to enter indoor public spaces, especially healthcare facilities, for fear of contracting the virus but can now feel safe doing so, said Dr. Christopher Hall, Beacon Medical Group Cleveland Road family doctor and chair of the Beacon Physician’s Governance Council.

“We’re still trying to be cautious and careful when we see patients,” Dr. Hall said. “We’re still wearing masks in the office. We know there is still a lot of uncertainty and hesitancy among patients, so we’re trying to take that into account and be as careful in our actions in the office as we can.”

Dr. Hall said he’s concerned with the lack of preventive care that some patients have received during the pandemic.

An Elkhart General Hospital patient rings a bell marking completion of her cancer treatment as staff look on. Beacon doctors are urging patients to resume scheduling nonemergent surgeries and procedures now that COVID-19 cases are declining.

“I’ve had a number of patients who have ignored problems that have come up over these two years, and then when they’ve come in, something that would have been a small problem a year ago or six months ago is now a big problem that takes more time and effort to fix,” Dr. Hall said.

“The number one thing is just coming back in to see their doctors, whether it’s me as a primary care doctor or getting in to see their specialist. That’s something we’re still struggling with — patients who are hesitant to come out to the doctor’s office but are just asking for refills on their medications even though they haven’t been seen in a long time.”

Dr. Hall said it’s understandable that some patients might be leery to resume routine or nonemergent health care, especially after the recent omicron surge followed a sharp drop in new infections in July before the delta variant took hold.

But as this surge wanes, there are now far more people vaccinated in the community. He added that omicron was so much more contagious than its two predecessors that it infected many more people, giving them natural immunity, at least for the time being.

“It’s been two years,” Dr. Hall said. “We have to get back to some type of normal, but we have to balance that with the fact that we still have to be safe, knowing that there is still some unknown out there with what’s going to happen in the future.”

Vaccination will continue to be the best way for the community to bring an end to the pandemic, the physicians agreed. To schedule an appointment to get vaccinated or boosted, call 2-1-1 or visit the Indiana Department of Health’s website. Many retail pharmacies also offer appointments.

“We’re not going to eradicate this coronavirus,” Dr. Bache said. “But as long as it doesn’t result in large numbers of people needing hospital care, we should still be able to deliver care to other people.”