In an effort to address the public health emergency that has been declared at national, state and local levels due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, government officials are taking action to ensure that the healthcare system is able to provide necessary care safely. To that end, the governors of Washington, Oregon and Alaska – the states where PeaceHealth delivers care to communities – all implemented orders that prohibit elective and non-urgent medical procedures from being performed in their respective states.
Washington: On March 19, 2020, Gov. Jay Inslee issued a proclamation that prohibits all hospitals from providing healthcare services, procedures and surgeries that, if delayed, are not anticipated to cause harm to the patient within the next three months or to cause the patient’s condition to worsen.
Oregon: Effective March 23, 2020, Gov. Kate Brown ordered that all elective and non-urgent medical procedures be canceled across all care settings.
Alaska: On March 19, 2020, Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a mandate to all patients, physicians, hospitals and surgical centers to postpone or cancel all non-urgent or elective medical procedures for the next three months.
Whether a patient’s procedure, healthcare service or surgery should be canceled or postponed to comply with one of these mandates is a clinical decision. Medical physicians who practice at a PeaceHealth facility are using their best independent medical judgment free of any direction or control by PeaceHealth to determine if a patient’s medical condition is one that can be performed while the governors’ mandates are in effect. If you are a patient whose healthcare service, procedure or surgery has been postponed or canceled, we encourage you to talk to your physician if you have concerns.
We appreciate your patience and understanding during these unprecedented times.
