The Iowa Board of Medicine has an emergency teleconference meeting scheduled for Friday, April 3 at 7:30 a.m. The meeting is being held by teleconference for obvious reasons during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Board will give consideration of the Governor’s emergency declaration pertaining to nonessential or elective surgeries and procedures that utilize personal protective equipment. The language of that proclamation can be found at the end of this story.
The Board will also consider submitting a request to Gov. Reynolds asking her to issue an emergency declaration with a shelter-in-place order for Iowa due to risks to healthcare providers.
Gov. Reynolds signs new proclamation continuing State Public Health Emergency Declaration | Office of the Governor of Iowa
NONESSENTIAL MEDICAL AND DENTAL SERVICES
SECTION ONE. Pursuant to Iowa Code § 135.144(3), and in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Public Health, unless otherwise modified by subsequent proclamation or order of the Iowa Department of Public Health, I hereby order that effective at 5:00 p.m. on March 27, 2020, and continuing until this disaster proclamation expires:
- All nonessential or elective surgeries and procedures that utilize personal protective equipment (PPE) must not be conducted by any hospital, outpatient surgery provider, or outpatient procedure provider, whether public, private, or nonprofit.
- A nonessential surgery or procedure is one that can be delayed without undue risk to the current or future health of a patient, considering all appropriate factors including, but not limited to any: (1) threat to the patient’s life if the surgery or procedure is not performed; (2) threat of permanent dysfunction of an extremity or organ system; (3) risk of metastasis or progression of staging; and (4) risk of rapidly worsening to severe symptoms.
- Each hospital, outpatient surgery provider, and outpatient procedure provider shall limit all nonessential individuals in surgery and procedure suites and patient care areas where PPE is required. Only individuals essential to conducting the surgery or procedure shall be present in such areas.
- Each hospital, outpatient surgery provider, and outpatient procedure provider shall establish an internal governance structure to ensure that the principles outlined above are followed.
