Kaiser Permanente will join several California hospitals and postpone non-urgent elective surgeries in response to the current surge in COVID-19 cases across the state, Eyewitness News has learned.
Hospital officials say the decision was made in order to free up staff to concentrate on supporting COVID-19 units, while ensuring that Kaiser facilities have the capacity and staff available to provide care.
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"The exceptions to this pause in surgeries are cancer and presumed cancer cases, as well as any situation in which postponing surgery would have a negative impact on the patient's medical condition, including pain," officials said in a statement.
The postponement will last through Jan. 10 and new elective surgeries will not be scheduled through the end of next month.
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Patients affected by this change are being directly contacted by hospital officials.