As the COVID-19 pandemic numbers surge again in the United States, some healthcare providers continue to ask the question that they have been asking since the beginning: Are surgery centers the answer to continued surges?
As early as late March 2020, when the COVID pandemic was on its first rise in the United States, a group of anesthesiologists began to consider solutions to the lack of beds and facilities for critical patient care. The idea is this: Repurpose some or all of the estimated 5,000 surgery centers that have recently closed across the United States. This would entail repurposing both the facility and the staff. Of particular importance is the idea that anesthesia machines (which are plentiful in surgery centers) could be repurposed to function as ventilators. According to Yale Medicine1, ventilators are critical for many COVID-19 patients:
“A ventilator pumps air—usually with extra oxygen—into patients’ airways when they are unable to breathe adequately on their own. If lung function has been severely impaired—due to injury or an illness such as COVID-192—patients may need a ventilator.”
COVIDVent, a group of anesthesiologists, has crowdsourced and created a blueprint for this transition from surgery centers to COVID-19 critical care. To learn more, you can read the blueprint here3.
Other Solutions for Critical COVID-19 Care
In addition to repurposing closed surgery centers, other healthcare providers are working toward refitting ambulatory surgery centers4 to meet the needs of pandemic-affected patients. Other solutions and innovations range from deploying artificial intelligence5 to help “physicians predict which patients will develop severe lung disease, even if they initially have a mild case of the novel coronavirus” to converting hotels, sporting arenas and other closed hospitals into care sites under the direction of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers6.
Celebrating Our Healthcare Workers
As you can see, the creativity and innovation within the medical space continue to inspire onlookers as medical professionals among us rise to meet the challenge of our times. We celebrate these frontline healthcare workers and heroes.
To learn more about CalOx’s oxygen gas for surgery centers, contact us today.