Temporary Practice Changes

To our current and future patients:

Yesterday, March 13^th, the American College of Surgeons issued their recommendations for elective surgery cases.  The ACS, to which I and most surgeons belong, is the governing body for surgeons of all varieties.  It is an organization that takes its responsibilities very seriously.

With the increasing likelihood of more and more serious COVID-19 cases overwhelming hospitals and physicians, the American College of Surgeons is asking surgeons “to plan to minimize, postpone, and cancel electively scheduled operations, endoscopies, or other invasive procedures until we have passed the predictive inflection point”.

This is being asked not only to minimize potential viral spread, but also because hospitals are becoming critically short of supplies, including surgical masks, gloves, drapes and gowns.  To sum it up, hospitals may need every mask they have in the coming weeks for critical cases of all varieties, virus or say, appendicitis or heart attacks.

One smaller, rural hospital I know has already gone to emergency surgery only.  I suspect the hospital chains in Salt Lake will do sometime next week.

Accordingly, our practice is going forward for now with these guidelines.

SCHEDULED SURGERIES

• Scheduled cases from Tuesday, March 17^th through Friday, March 20^th will be done IF the patient desires to continue with plans AND Hospitals continue to allow elective cases.
• Scheduled cases from Friday, March 20^th on should be considered postponed. In the unlikely event hospitals stay open for elective cases, we will do on a case by case basis.

NOTE: If you are scheduled for surgery within the next three weeks, we will call you to discuss your options. You may also reach out to us at any time via text messaging at 801-322-1188 or e-mail at lchickmd@xmission.com. Someone will be monitoring these at all times.

OFFICE VISITS

We will be calling to reschedule most appointments.  We will continue to see patients, especially ones that need to be seen in follow-up for stitches, etc. We will try to stagger appointments so that no one sits in the waiting room with others.  Appointments that are routine, late follow-ups will be postponed. Consultations for cosmetic procedures will be scheduled, but at least three weeks from now.  Consultations for serious reconstruction problems, will be seen as needed.

We will be doing everything we can to keep the office safe and clean, i.e. continual cleaning of surfaces, from chairs to doorknobs, and especially cleaning of hands, including yours. If you think you might be ill, please stay home. We do not want to get sick either.

Things have changed. Life will be different for a while. Let’s hope it returns quickly.

Sincerely,
Leland R. Chick, MD

https://www.facs.org/about-acs/covid-19/information-for-surgeons