COVID-19 Surge Causes University Of Utah To Postpone Nonemergency Surgeries
Jul 21, 2021, 7:19 PM | Updated: 9:03 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah hospital announced a small number of nonemergency surgeries have been postponed due to the growing number of people hospitalized with COVID-19.
This isn’t the first time it’s happened as the hospital pushed back some surgeries this past winter.
Hospitalizations in Utah are 45% higher right than this same time last year.
The majority of those hospitalized COVID-19 patients were not vaccinated.
“We know hospitalizations follow case count by a number of days and I hope this doesn’t become our seven-day average. We need to manage this virus in our community so we can safely take care of our patients who need us for other things,” said Dr. Kencee Graves of University of Utah Health.
Hospitals also reported a lack of staff. Both The U and Intermountain Healthcare said they have hundreds of unfilled positions.
As more and more people get sick, more workers have called off so they can care for themselves or their families.
Graves said, “The biggest difference from this time last year is that this is preventable. This is suffering that largely does not need to be happening.”
She added that the vast majority of patients she’s seen are between 40 and 65-years old and unvaccinated.