Inslee restricts non-urgent hospital procedures
By Terry Murry on Monday, January 17th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
OLYMPIA – Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has issued an emergency order to temporarily restrict non-urgent health care services, procedures and surgeries that are performed in hospitals due to the spike in COVID-19. This emergency order began at 12:01 a.m. today (Monday) and will remain in effect until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 17 unless rescinded sooner.
The governor is also requiring that hospitals operate in conventional personal protective equipment levels within the hospital so that those who are coming to work under stressed conditions can feel confident that they are being given every opportunity to protect themselves. According to the governor’s office, the supply chain issues that once existed are no longer challenging, and the state has access to personal protective equipment, if the hospitals are not able to access it themselves.
Inslee has also asked the Washington State National Guard to deploy 100 non-clinical personnel across the state to be deployed to the emergency departments to assist with various non-medical tasks to alleviate the crowded situation currently existing within those emergency departments. With the significant demand for testing, the National Guard will be deployed to areas outside of hospitals to set up testing sites at locations across the state, including Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.
