Perioperative Management Strategies for the COVID-19 Pandemic at a Facility in China.

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe spread of coronavirus disease 2019 posed a public health crisis beginning in January 2020, affecting hospitals and health care personnel worldwide and disrupting perioperative services. Organization leaders at Xijing Hospital, Xi’an, China, developed a mitigation system for the OR that involved creating a pandemic response team to identify and implement appropriate infection control practices to prevent virus transmission. The leaders addressed managing the daily surgery schedule through patient screening and a focus on the urgency and volume of procedures. They required increased use of personal protective equipment and more stringent cleaning and disinfection protocols and ensured that the physical and mental health of staff members were monitored and prioritized. This article describes how leaders implemented these enhanced processes to protect personnel from infection as they continued to provide patient care. It also describes how high‐risk procedures involving patients with confirmed or suspected infections were managed and discusses lessons learned.