Hospitals in North Carolina are ready to start seeing more non-COVID-19 patients as state public health restrictions are slowly being eased.
Hospitals paused certain elective procedures and clinic visits back in mid-March. All part of the effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus and to conserve limited supplies of personal protective equipment, like gowns and masks.
Now medical facilities are resuming procedures such as hernia operations and joint repairs. And UNC Health's Doctor David Zvara says that will mean screening all patients for COVID-19.
"All those efforts are intended to provide immediate feedback to the system as to whether or not we're getting ahead of ourselves in terms of the opening up," he said.
A UNC Health spokesman says suspended procedures have had a significant impact on revenue. And the Duke system estimates a decline in clinical revenue of around $200 million.