None of us have ever encountered a pandemic or a pandemic reaction like what we are all living through at the moment. As a consequence, our governments and communities are trying to figure out exactly what is the best path to take in these uncharted waters. Health care facilities are sailing in these same turbulent seas.
As you are probably aware, many hospitals have canceled all elective surgery in order to protect resources for the influx of critically ill CV-19 patients. The Surgeon General has advised such as well. We all fully support the intent behind these prospective actions.
Unfortunately, CUI has been made aware of some hospitals canceling all SWL cases, deeming them “elective.” In what seems to be an overly broad definition of “elective”, these facilities are putting many kidney stone patients at risk, and perhaps defeating the very purpose of the original restriction.
As a result, CUI wrote an open letter to the Surgeon General explaining the dangers of such an over-reaching policy recommendation. That letter is below, as well as a letter from the American Hospital Association expressing their broad concern with the policy.
Our hope is that everyone stays safe, healthy, and out of harm’s way. But we also want to be sure that acutely ill kidney stone patients across the country are not arbitrarily mislabeled and denied acute care that exposes all of us to unintended consequences.
CUI Letter to Surgeon General re Elective Surgery