Cookeville Regional Will Restart Elective Procedures

Cookeville Regional will restart elective procedures at the hospital May 1.

CEO Paul Korth said the rollout will be slow and measured.

“We will start gradually reopening the medical center to start doing elective procedures and elective surgeries,” Korth said. “Let me reassure you that we will be doing these in a safe manner, not only for the patients, but also for our staff and our physicians.”

Korth said numerous protocols need to be worked out prior to elective procedures resuming.

“So there’s going to be many things that we’re going to have to work out because this is a new normal,” Korth said. “And for a patient that comes into the medical center that’s needs surgery. That individual is going to need somebody to drive them home. So we have to come up with mechanisms to make sure that those family members are notified when the patient is ready to be discharged, notified when the surgery started and notified when the surgery’s ending. So we are working on a communication plan to be able to communicate with each and every one of the patients that come into the facility for surgery.”

Korth said he hopes more procedures can be added Monday, May 4. However, Korth said procedures might also be slowed down from time-to-time because of COVID-19 cases.

Seven people have been treated for COVID-19 at the Medical Center.