After Drop in Number of COVID-19 Patients, Huntington Hospital Resumes Elective Surgeries

Due to a dramatic drop in the number of COVID-19 patients being treated, Huntington Hospital has resumed elective surgeries and returned some areas of the facility to their pre-pandemic functions.

“Fortunately, with the decrease in admitted COVID-19 patients, we’ve been able to resume all elective surgeries and operationalize many areas of the hospital to return to their pre-COVID care,” said Dorey Huston, senior manager of the hospital’s public relations and media department.

But Huston warned residents to stay vigilant and obey the guidelines.

“That said, the Easter holiday, Passover and spring break are just around the corner,” Huston told Pasadena Now Thursday. “We remain cautious and prepared for an uptick in cases in the coming weeks and are asking our community to please help us keep this decline going – wear a mask, continue to social distance, refrain from travel and when it’s your turn, get the vaccine.”

As of Thursday, there were nine patients in the hospital’s intensive care unit and 37 coronavirus patients in the hospital.

That’s a massive decrease from December when 147 infected patients were in the hospital battling the virus. At that point, the hospital struggled to treat COVID-19 patients during a surge that left its ICUs and others at zero capacity.

At that time, Huntington President and CEO Dr. Lori J Morgan said the hospital is experiencing “a tsunami of COVID-19 patients.”

At one point, city Health Director Dr. Ying-Ying Goh warned local residents they may not receive emergency care if they suffered a life-threatening emergency.

The hospital began using surge tents due to an increasing influx of patients infected with the virus and maximized the facility to serve patients most efficiently and to accommodate the rapid increase in hospitalizations.

But in late January, Newsom announced that data showed infection rates would begin to drop in February.

Last Tuesday, the county’s case rate dropped to 7.2%. just .2% above the necessary rate to reopen local businesses, including indoor dining at restaurants.

On Thursday, state officials urged residents in the Southland and across the state to consider donning two masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Last week, the state upended its own vaccine guidelines and began vaccinating essential workers in education and child care, food and agriculture, and law enforcement and emergency services — but health officials said those workers will have to be patient as vaccine supplies remain limited and staff are being trained to ensure only eligible people receive shots.

The newly eligible groups include an estimated 1.2 million people.