UK HealthCare to temporarily close five operating rooms to make room for more COVID-19 patients

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) – UK Healthcare is closing five of its 32 operating rooms (OR) at UK Chandler Hospital as of Monday, November 30. The goal is to make room for more COVID-19 patients and to decrease hospital admissions overall.

In a press release, UK Healthcare says the move does not affect the 10 operating rooms at UK Good Samaritan Hospital or the eight operating rooms at the Center for Advanced Surgery.

The move also allows for the redeployment of additional staff and resources to other areas that need additional staff. Officials are calling the temporary closures a “proactive decision” as surgeons, nurses and coordinators use the time to brief and defer patients.

Officials say elective procedures will continue and employees will not be fired.

Kentucky is seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases. The current positivity rate for the condition is 8.97%.

Predictive models suggest there will be an increase in COVID-19 cases in three weeks as people meet for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Additional closures will be considered by UK HealthCare if they experience a surge beyond 90 COVID patients in total. The current reduction is expected to last until December and will be assessed weekly.

“Closing operating rooms is not an easy decision. It impacts our staff, physicians and patients in many expected and sometimes unexpected ways, ”said Dr. Mark F. Newman, executive vice president of health affairs at the University of Kentucky. “However, it is the right decision in the face of the uncertainty that awaits us.”