LONDON, ONT. -- Those who have had their surgery postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak may soon have it re-scheduled.
Medical Officer of Health for the Middlesex-London Health Unit Dr. Chris Mackie says plans are underway but safety is the priority.
“Local public health has been asked to work with the hospitals to make sure that everything is ready to go in terms of those hospitals reopening services gradually, “ said Dr. Mackie.
“We're not talking about opening hospitals tomorrow. We're talking about the planning process to make sure that hospitals are ready when they get the go-ahead from the province.”
Right now emergency surgeries are being performed at all of London’s hospitals, but Mackie says the final approval for other surgeries needs to come from Ontario's Ministry of Health.
“The role of the local medical officer of health is to assess...what's the rate of illness related to coronavirus is in the hospital,” said Mackie.
He points out that none of our local hospitals in London or Middlesex County have outbreaks.
He says they are certainly treating patients with COVID-19 but not patients who have acquired the novel coronavirus in the facilities.
