Speak Up: Beebe pausing elective surgery procedures due to COVID surge

Due to an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations, Beebe Healthcare is pausing elective surgical procedures that require an overnight hospital stay. In a statement, Beebe said its leaders made the decision “to continue providing safe, high-quality care to the influx of patients requiring hospitalization due to COVID-19 and unrelated serious medical issues.” More than 95% of Beebe’s hospitalized COVID-19 patients are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, according to the health care system.

• Will understaffed hospitals be held partially accountable for this, since we are holding regular people that have nothing to do with health care accountable? — Beth Gallagher

• What? — Jake Phil

• I mean, ChristianaCare got, what, $80 million in CARES/COVID funding? I’m not sure how much Beebe got, but shouldn’t they have been able to hire enough staff to cover this? Or did they just pocket the majority of the money? It’s a fair question. It’s a bit odd, too, to see this same story all over regional news outlets across the country that have different positivity rates. Quite suspect. — Beth Gallagher

• If you read the article, it doesn’t have to do with staff. They are restricting elective surgeries that require an overnight hospital stay. They have the staff, but they do not have the patient rooms available. — Jake Phil

• I think you misunderstood the article. They have the staff but not the space. If you only have 10 rooms and 20 COVID cases walk in needing ventilators, I guess they have to cancel the scheduled surgeries. This wouldn’t be happening if vaccinations and public health weren’t political all of a sudden. — Craig Walter

• That is not what I am hearing from other sources, but, yes, understood. Also, this almost identical article came out in other regions over the U.S., all within one to two days,which is highly suspect. Generally, when that happens, a narrative is written over the truth. — Beth Gallagher

• Is it a narrative though? We just had Labor Day, and people still gathered during a pandemic. Just food for thought. — Craig Walter

• You don’t know much about how hospital systems assess risk. I get that you love a conspiracy theory and your “sources.” — Tommy Bou

• How about we start reporting on the shortage of health care staff? Shouldn’t we pay attention to the hospital bed-to-nurse ratio? — Amy Beth Dawson