Surgical Services Set to Resume Safely in Minnesota

by Matthew Graczyk, MD, Vice President of Surgical Services at Minnesota Oncology

On May 5, Governor Tim Walz signed an order to safely restart elective surgical procedures moving forward. Minnesota Oncology has been providing care throughout this unprecedented time and appreciates the additional flexibility this change will afford to the treatment of patients moving forward.

As we all continue to face new clinical challenges during this pandemic, I wanted to share that we are available to support all patients with enhanced care coordination including facilitating diagnostics and testing, securing authorizations, and determining appropriate treatment.

We continue to advocate on behalf of patients, making individualized care decisions after careful evaluation to determine the safest course of action for each case. In some circumstances, that may mean proceeding with a surgical procedure, while other circumstances may continue to warrant a virtual visit or adjustments to the sequence and timing of the patient’s care in order to limit the risk of exposure. These decisions are not made lightly and are made with careful consideration of each patient’s history, specific cancer biology, and based upon guidelines from leading medical societies. We will also take into account each patient’s personal requests and concerns related to moving forward with surgery.

Please let us know how we can support you during this time. Referring providers and clinics, please feel free to contact our liaison, Courtney Anderson. She can be reached at 612.309.3415 or courtney.anderson@usoncology.com.

We’re all in this together.

For more about Minnesota Oncology's ongoing efforts in response to coronavirus, please visit our COVID-19 Updates page.

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