Amid shortage of anesthesia providers, all surgeries at Sherman Hospital in Elgin relocated Wednesday
Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin was diverting patients needing surgery to other health facilities Wednesday due to a shortage in anesthesia providers, a situation that already caused elective operations to be postponed there for three weeks.
The diversions began at 11 p.m. Tuesday and were scheduled to continue until 7 p.m. Wednesday, according to information obtained by the Daily Herald that the hospital would not confirm.
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital near Lake Barrington was identified as a temporary relocation site.
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Sherman indicated that such “bypass” procedures are not unusual.
“The health and safety of our patients is our top priority,” the statement reads. “Like many hospitals' standard practice across the state, there are times an ambulance diversion or ‘bypass' occurs. In bypass situations, ambulances are diverted to other local hospitals or within the same hospital system to best manage patient need and our hospital's temporary shortage of anesthesia providers is one of those situations. But even when on ambulance diversion, we continue to accept walk-in patients and medical or nonsurgical ambulance transfers through our Emergency Department.”
Hospital spokespeople did not immediately address how long the bypass would last or whether it could reoccur in the future.
Sherman previously announced the delay of elective surgeries would continue until Sept. 20.
In that earlier statement, parent company Advocate Aurora Health didn't address the reason for the shortage in anesthesia providers but said it “will continue to provide care for urgent and emergent situations, and it is critical that patients seek care when needed.”
The statement added that labor and delivery services will continue without interruption and that noncritical or elective procedures would be rescheduled to other Advocate Aurora Health locations through Sept. 20 at the latest.
Dr. Sanjay Sutaria said his company, United Anesthesia Associates in Elgin, had been providing anesthesia services to Sherman Hospital for 30 years.
They had been negotiating with Advocate for more than a year and a half on a contract before the health care system decided to go with another provider, he said.
According to several doctors who contacted the Daily Herald, the Elgin hospital notified them that they would need to reschedule or find a new location for noncritical procedures starting Wednesday.