KETTERING, Ohio — Effective immediately, Kettering Health is postponing all non-emergent, elective surgeries and procedures that require an overnight stay. 


What You Need To Know

  • Starting Wednesday, Jan. 5, Kettering Health is postponing elective surgeries and procedures as COVID strains hospital resources

  • Other Ohio hospital systems also made the move recently as COVID cases and hospitalizations rise

  • Ohio set a sixth-consecutive record for hospitalizations Tuesday

"Hospitalizations for COVID-19 in our region and around the state have increased significantly, putting strain on multiple health systems," officials wrote in a press release Wednesday morning. 

Ohio set a sixth-consecutive record for hospitalizations Tuesday, having more than 6,200 patients battling COVID-19 in the state's facilities, according to the Ohio Department of Health. The state also reported 20,411 new COVID cases.

COVID patients now account for 24.6% of all hospitalized individuals in the state, including the 1,305 in ICUs and 842 on ventilators. 

Kettering Health said these factors must be met for a surgery to be deemed necessary:

  • Threat to patient’s life or limb if the surgery or procedure is not performed
  • Threat of permanent dysfunction of an extremity or organ system if the surgery or procedure is postponed
  • Risk of metastasis or progression of staging if the surgery or procedure is postponed
  • Risk of rapidly worsening to severe symptoms if postponed
  • Other considerations that might be relevant in evaluating whether the surgery or procedure is essential

Hospital systems across the state have made the change in recent weeks as COVID cases and hospitalizations continue to surge. Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center began postponing elective surgeries Jan. 3. OhioHealth and Mount Carmel have had to postpone elective surgeries on a situational basis, and officials said they will continue to monitor and assess when needed. 

Kettering Health urges the public to get the vaccine and the booster. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made a revision to its recommendation for booster shots Tuesday, saying individuals can now get the booster five months after their vaccination instead of six months.