Audubon County Memorial Hospital and Clinics Restarting Elective Surgeries and Procedures

During her address on April 24th, Governor Reynolds issued a new State Public Health Emergency Declaration, which replaces her March 26 order to ban all elective surgeries and nonessential medical procedures. Under the new order, which took effect at 5:00 am on April 27, hospitals and providers may resume elective surgeries and nonessential medical procedures as long as they meet specific criteria for:

  • Adequate inventory of Personal Protective Equipment
  • COVID-19 Testing Capacity
  • Ability to Maintain Adequate Bed Capacity

Audubon County Memorial Hospital and Clinics has begun a phased in approach to conducting some elective surgeries and medical procedures previously suspended by the ban.  This approach will be based on surgery/procedure types and volumes that allows for a gradual restart of services that have a minimal to low impact on inpatient hospital beds capacity and use minimal amounts of personal protective equipment.

Hospital leadership emphasized the approach will be cautious and within guidelines established from the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control. Medical Staff Chief, Dr. Jeff Maire stated, “We support the state’s decision to safely open up elective surgeries in counties that have not seen high numbers of COVID-19 cases.  We have plans in place to safely implement this process to meet the medical needs of our patients and appreciate their trust in us to continue to provide care in a safe environment.”

Throughout this COVID-19 emergency, Audubon County Memorial Hospital and Clinics has continued to provide care to the community by developing and implementing numerous protocols to keep patients, visitors, and employees safe.  “Safety has always been our number one priority in all decision we are making,” says Suzanne Cooner, CEO.  “We will resume as many services as we believe are safe to perform along with following established safety measures and guidelines – which will continue to evolve over the weeks and months to come.”

Patients may contact the Outpatient Specialty Clinic at 712-563-5304 or their provider to discuss rescheduling a postponed surgery or procedure.