Western Health announced on Tuesday the surgical program at Western Memorial Regional Hospital will resume with limited elective surgeries this week. 

The surgery program will run two operating rooms. This will allow for a number of patients to have their surgery, including those who may have had their surgery postponed over the past two weeks. Individual surgeons will prioritize their patients to ensure that those most in need are able to have their elective surgery.

Western Health said over the past week, there has been a decrease in the number of staff who are off sick with influenza like illness as well as a decrease in those patients with influenza like illness requiring hospital care. 

“This decrease in the burden of illness has enabled us to restart a limited surgical program”, said Dr. Ken Jenkins, VP of Medical Services, in a release. “We are watching this trend very closely and are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to get back to normal capacity within the next three to four weeks.”  

All elective surgeries at the hospital had been put on hold as the organization saw a surge in the number of patients needing in hospital care for influenza like illness, compounded with the number of staff who were off sick with this illness.  Because H1N1 is still present in area communities, Western Health has been using extra care when admiting a patient for surgery so that the patient does not become exposed to H1N1 while recovering from their surgery. 

Western Health has continued emergency surgeries during the H1N1 pandemic.