Danville hospital stops elective surgeries due to rising COVID cases

January 14, 2021

Local News

DANVILLE, Va. – Sovah Health announced Thursday that it is contacting patients to reschedule elective and non-urgent surgical cases and procedures that require an admission at its Danville hospital. At this time, no other surgeries or procedures will be affected.

As reported by Virginia Department of Health, cases of COVID-19 have been increasing in Danville and Pittsylvania County and throughout Virginia, and with this documented increase in confirmed positive cases, hospitals throughout the region have seen an increase in hospitalizations.

“We are disappointed that we are required to take this action,” said Alan Larson, Market President and Chief Executive Officer of Sovah Health – Danville. “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Sovah Health has closely monitored the prevalence of the virus in our community to ensure we can appropriately respond and adapt our processes to conserve resources and protect the health and safety of our patients, providers, and staff members,” he added.

“Since the first week in December, following the Thanksgiving Holiday, we have seen a steady increase in patients presenting to the hospital with the COVID-19 virus. We are taking this action to accommodate needed hospital beds for COVID-19 patients,” Larson said.

Sovah Health – Danville is beginning the process of contacting patients who have surgeries scheduled in the next two weeks that will need to be rescheduled. The decisions about which procedures can safely move forward will be made by working with our clinical teams to carefully evaluate each patient’s needs.Sovah Health will continue to screen and mask everyone who enters the facility and maintain a limited visitor protocol for the foreseeable future.

Visit SovahHealth.com to learn more.