PRMC begins elective procedures, testing new screening protocols

SALISBURY, Md. – Dr. Chris Snyder at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury says they officially started elective procedures on Thursday but they’re slowly building things up for the next two weeks.

Snyder says they’re doing a handful of elective procedures Thursday and Friday to make sure their new protocols run smoothly. Staff are screening patients by asking personal questions like employment to determine if that person needs to be tested for COVID-19 before surgery. Snyder says it’s important to safely resume these other services because there are countless patients who need medical attention not related to the coronavirus.

“It’s important for these families and patients to get their diagnosis, to let them know if they have cancer or not. People have been sitting for eight weeks waiting for that and boy that’s scary. We’re opening up breast diagnostics, we’re opening up colonoscopies again. Trying to get those non-COVID patients through the door safely,” says Dr. Chris Snyder, the Chief Quality Officer at PRMC.

As for COVID-19 numbers, Snyder says they’ll continue to watch for patterns in hospitalizations as things open back up but says it’s hard to quantify what a “spike” is  until they see it.