Hospital official says elective surgeries have not been halted; Erath County reports 74 new cases.
Monday’s announcement from Erath County Judge Alfonso Campos that elective surgeries have been halted caused confusion among local medical professionals who say they have not been given that directive from officials with Texas Health Stephenville Hospital.
I sought clarification on the issue from Stephenville’s health authority Dr. Kelly Doggett who received a message from hospital president Chris Leu.
In an email to Dr. Doggett, Leu explained that Texas Health Stephenville is monitoring the number of daily surgeries closely, particularly those that would require an overnight stay, to ensure that the ability to care for Covid-19 patients is not impacted.
“If we identify an elective surgery that may impact our Covid-19 capacity, we would then coordinate with the surgeon and patient to possibly postpone,” Leu said. “So far at THS, we have not yet had any surgeries impact our ability to care for Covid-19.”
In other words, elective surgeries are still taking place in Stephenville.
LATEST NUMBERS
Erath County officials on Tuesday reported 74 new cases diagnosed on Saturday and Monday; including 42 in Stephenville, seven in Dublin and 25 in the county.
The new cases mean there are now an estimated 378 active cases and 85 total hospitalizations.