INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s largest hospital system will be stopping all inpatient non-emergency surgeries as the state faces a growing surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations.
Indiana University Health announced Thursday that the surgery suspension would start Monday. The decision comes after IU Health said last week it was cutting such surgeries by half.
“The surge of COVID-19 patient volumes has continued to accelerate at a rapid pace, and this temporary change is needed to further relieve pressure on our care teams and to free up space for critically ill patients,” IU Health said in a statement.
Indiana hospitals were treating 2,366 COVID-19 patients as of Wednesday, according to the state health department. That is double the number of patients from 24 days earlier.
IU Health, which operates 16 hospitals around the state, also said that more than 1,000 employees did not meet Wednesday’s deadline to get COVID-19 vaccinations and would be suspended immediately.
More than 97% of the system’s approximately 36,000 employees have complied with the vaccination requirement, which was announced in June, spokesman Jeff Swiatek told the Indianapolis Business Journal. But that means that about 1,080 employees have not been vaccinated.
