CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation today announcing that more counties, including Nueces, will be added to a list of those that are suspending elective surgeries at hospitals.
Counties that are suspending elective surgeries:
- Nueces County
- Hidalgo County
- Webb County
Governor Abbott issued the proclamation to help ensure the availability of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients. The proclamation goes into effect Wednesday, July 1.
The announcement comes in response to the increasing rate of positive COVID-19 cases across the state and concern that there will not be enough hospital beds and equipment to take care of the COVID patients. Elective surgeries are those that are not immediately and medically necessary to correct a serious medical condition.
We're told that while elective surgeries at hospitals are being suspended, however, outpatient surgical centers are still open and accepting patients.
"Those procedures that are done to diagnose potentially serious issues can and should go ahead. That's an important thing to realize, is that we don't want to cancel things that may diagnose a problem early-on that can be treated with fairly minimal surgery." said Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Vijay Bindingnavele.
While elective surgeries are being suspended, Governor Abbott included procedures in his order that don't impact the resources needed for COVID-19 patients.