WMCHealth to Resume Outpatient Ambulatory Surgeries at HealthAlliance and MidHudson Regional Hospitals this Week

Today, WMCHealth announces that elective outpatient ambulatory surgeries and medical tests will resume this week at its hospitals in Dutchess and Ulster counties, under an Executive Order from Governor Andrew Cuomo. HealthAlliance (Broadway campus,) in Kingston, and MidHudson Regional Hospital, in Poughkeepsie, will each resume outpatient surgery services, with MidHudson Regional Hospital beginning Wednesday, May 6, and HealthAlliance on Thursday, May 7.

Governor Cuomo's Executive Order allows for the resumption of elective outpatient ambulatory surgical services -- those for which the patient enters and leaves a surgical facility on the same day, without an overnight stay -- based on the status of coronavirus impact, including a drop in COVID-19 cases in specific counties.

Individuals who were able to defer an elective outpatient procedure or test during the early phase of the pandemic will be contacted to reschedule pre-procedure testing as well as their surgery.

As a mandatory safety protocol, the hospital will provide each patient with a COVID-19 test prior to a procedure. Each patient must then follow stringent safety precautions to avoid possible infection before the procedure date itself. Any patient who tests positive for a COVID infection will be re-tested before elective surgery can be rescheduled. Emergency and urgent surgeries have continued without deferral throughout the pandemic, regardless of a patient's infection status.

While each patient previously scheduled for an outpatient procedure will be called to reschedule, individuals can feel free to initiate re-scheduling by contacting their surgeon's office. Affiliated physicians are welcome to call WMCHealth surgery practices to discuss a patient who will be rescheduled for a procedure, or to make a new referral.

Any individual with new or concerning symptoms or a change in health status should not wait for care and should call their primary physician's office or come to an emergency room. The health and well-being of our community, our patients and our workforce is our number one priority. We have taken extraordinary measures to protect our workforce and to ensure that all our care environments are safe for our patients. 

Read Our Patient Information for Outpatient Ambulatory Surgeries