Columbus, Ohio: In the last few weeks, we have seen an unprecedented surge of new COVID-19 cases in Central, Southeast, and Southeast Central Ohio due to the more contagious Omicron variant. The resulting increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations has stretched our hospital resources to the maximum. Because of this, all of our adult hospitals in Zone 2 have mutually agreed to postpone non-essential surgical procedures requiring an overnight stay through January 21, 2022. Essential surgeries to prevent death, prevent permanent limb or organ injury, to prevent the progression of cancer and to prevent the progression to severe pain will continue as normally scheduled. More

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"Ambulance diversion is a controversial topic. How do we manage emergency patients when EDs are overcrowded and have no room for ambulance arrivals? Some cities and states have banned diversion. The Central Ohio Trauma System created the Emergency Patient Transport Plan. Some call it the “diversion plan,” but actually it’s an anti-diversion plan. Twenty-one years after its inception, it has been through some iterations, but it is still an important part of access to emergency care in Central Ohio...”  Thank you to Drs. Janine Curcio & Natalie Ferretti for writing this article. More