OU Med Postpones Elective Surgeries Preparing For COVID-19 Patient Surge

COVID-19 is expected to peak at the end of April. When that happens, health officials have said there will be a need for over 1,000 hospital beds, over 200 ICU beds and just under 200 ventilators.

Saturday, April 11th 2020, 6:49 pm

By: Erica Rankin

COVID-19 is expected to peak at the end of April.

When that happens, health officials have said there will be a need for over 1,000 hospital beds, over 200 ICU beds and just under 200 ventilators.

Hospitals across the state have had to alter their services for the immediate future.

OU Medical Center has postponed elective surgeries, or non-essential ones, ahead of the peak. This decision was made a few weeks ago.

"We need to have beds available for patients as well as the need to utilize resources to keep PPE in stock and ready to go," OU Medical Center Dr. Edil said.

Dr. Edil said if there is a need for an essential surgery, they will perform them.

"About half of my staff is working right now with cancer patients,” Dr. Edil said. "But the other half is preparing to take care of the sick patients.”

The timeline for when elective surgeries resume is still undetermined. The decision will be based on how Oklahoma handles the virus in the next seven to 10 days.

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