Forest Hills Hospital Won't Cut Surgeries Under New Capacity Rule

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Patients at New York City's hospitals won't have to forgo elective surgeries this week, although dozens of facilities in upstate New York will cut some non-emergency procedures, according to the NY Department of Health.

On Monday, the agency released a list of 32 burdened state hospitals — defined as facilities with 10 percent or less of staffed bed capacity remaining — that will have to postpone some elective surgeries from Dec. 9th through at least Jan. 15th under an executive order by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Some urgent surgeries, however, are permitted under the order, which the governor first announced last week amid a statewide uptick in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.

Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, Queens Hospital Center, and Mount Sinai in Manhattan were all initially included in lists of bed-limited, short-staffed hospitals, but the three facilities will continue operating as usual under the new guidance, Department of Health data shows.

A representative from Northwell Health, which operates LIJ Forest Hills, told Patch last week that the hospital quickly resolved its capacity issues and wasn't at risk of stopping procedures.

"We remain confident that our integrated health system can handle any potential increase in patient volume without impacting any necessary services," the spokesperson said.

Capacity issues have, however, continued to plague upstate New York, where hospitalizations are up 150 percent, Hochul said.

"We have the tools to fight this pandemic and you can protect yourself and your loved ones by getting vaccinated and encouraging others to get the shot," the governor said on Monday, when four more omicron COVID cases were confirmed in New York bringing the state's total case count to 12.

The omicron variant is possibly more transmissible, but Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN that preliminary research from South Africa is "a bit encouraging," as it suggests that the variant's COVID cases might be milder.

Here's a list of all the hospitals in the state that will have to postpone some elective surgeries from Dec. 9th until at least Jan. 15th — or until capacity issues are resolved: