Mayo Clinic deferring elective procedures

Mayo Clinic announced Tuesday afternoon it plans to begin deferring “all elective care that can be deferred for eight or more weeks.”

The deferments will begin to take effect March 23 at all Mayo Clinic locations nationwide, including Mayo Clinic Health System.

Dr. Amy Williams, Dean of the Practice at Mayo Clinic, said Tuesday the decision was made after evaluating the readiness of the Clinic’s facilities, personnel, capacity and supply availability, and assessing community transmission within the regions Mayo operates in.

“This decision is being made to ensure the safest possible environment for our patients and staff and to free up resources to assist in Mayo Clinic’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Williams. “Staff working in impacted areas will be redeployed where needed most.”

Despite the deferments, Mayo will continue to see patients for semi-urgent, urgent and emergency care will continue in clinic and hospital settings.

The move regarding elective surgeries follows other restrictions put into place by Mayo, including limits to the number of visitors a patient can have at one time. In its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayo has also temporarily suspended volunteer activities on its Rochester campuses.

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.