As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surge across Indiana, health systems are beginning to take steps not seen in months.
In the past month, hospitalizations have increased 168 percent. With experts warning infections will keep rising, IU Health — the state’s largest health system — said Thursday it will temporarily suspend half of its elective, inpatient surgeries and procedures system-wide beginning Monday.
Affected patients are being notified and their procedures will be rescheduled in about three weeks.
Staffing shortages only exacerbate the climbing numbers of patients sick with COVID-19.
Franciscan Health in Indianapolis usually only diverts around five percent of emergency care, but in recent months the hospital has diverted around a third of all calls.
Dr. Christopher Doehring, the system’s Vice President of Medical Affairs, says that’s unprecedented.
"We’ve made vaccine available, we know what to do to protect ourselves, and unfortunately, all too often, people are choosing not to do those things," Doehring said. "We’re reaping what we sow on that front."
State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said during a press conference Friday she believed Indiana has taken "exactly the right approach" informing Hoosiers.
"It has very clear that our elected officials want the opportunity to make these decisions."
Box said the department will continue to advise state and local governments with accurate data.
More than 2,100 Hoosiers are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. Around half of the state’s population eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine remain unvaccinated.
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