Hoag Orthopedic Institute To Resume Limited Elective Surgical Procedures May 1

Hoag Orthopedic Institute (HOI), one of the largest providers of hip and knee replacements in the state of California, announced it will resume selective elective surgery beginning May 1, 2020.

Due to the international COVID-19 pandemic and following CDC guidelines, Hoag Orthopedic Institute postponed all elective surgeries in March and April, except for emergent and urgent orthopedic surgical concerns and traumatic conditions.

The move to slowly and carefully resume scheduled surgical procedures was made in the context of recent guidance from federal, state and local government agencies and in alignment with the approach recommended by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and other clinical professional organizations.

“Many in our community have orthopedic issues that have been deferred for an extended period of time,” said Jennifer Mitzner, president and chief executive officer of HOI. “The conditions today are such that we may now increasingly meet those delayed essential health needs in a careful and safe manner.”

HOI will proceed with the limited elective surgical procedures under a thoughtful and judicious protocol, monitoring the data daily and will be willing to adjust as necessary based on current conditions.

“We have developed and implemented additional safety measures to protect our patients, physicians and staff members in accordance with CDC and other federal, state and local guidelines,” said Robert Gorab, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Hoag Orthopedic Institute. “In addition, we will resume performing elective orthopedic procedures on carefully selected patients first, primarily on an outpatient basis and on those patients with fewer health-related issues that might increase surgical risk. We have an outstanding clinical care team and we are all very excited to resume orthopedic care for our patients, as many are quite limited by their musculoskeletal conditions.”

Out of an abundance of caution, all patients undergoing elective surgery procedures will be required to obtain COVID-19 testing three days prior to surgery. Following the test, all patients will be required to quarantine at home prior to arrival at the facility for their surgical procedure.

HOI has taken additional safety measures to ensure the safety of all, including:

• Patient screening at admission in accordance with CDC guidelines, including temperature, health and travel history.
• Visitor limitations to patient drop off and pick up only.
• Screening and limiting all personnel and visitors to the facility.
• Limiting personnel in the operating room.
• Implementing new protocols and procedures for staff and physicians including but not limited to masking, distancing guidelines and hand washing.