“The gray area are the cancer patients,” said Dr. Arooj Simmonds, co-executive medical director of surgical services at Swedish Medical Center, which operates several hospitals in the Seattle area. Dr. Simmonds said slow-growing cancers, like prostate and cervical cancer, were more likely to be delayed. On Friday, the first day of widespread deferrals, Swedish Medical Center performed about 20 percent as many surgeries as is typical, she said. But the doctors also wanted to limit the medical and support needs that patients regularly require after surgery, Dr. Freeborn said. “As you can imagine, in this time, that’s probably not the best thing for that patient,” Dr. Freeborn said.

Source: New York Times March 15, 2020 00:11 UTC