BATON ROUGE - Our Lady of the Lake will temporarily stop scheduling all non-emergency surgeries due to the strain put on the hospital system because of an influx of coronavirus patients. 

The change is effective starting Monday, the health system announced that same day. OLOL said outpatient procedures that do not require an overnight stay will go on as scheduled.

The hospital made a similar policy change last year when cases first surged in Louisiana. 

Read the full announcement below.

Beginning today and for the next three weeks, Our Lady of the Lake will pause scheduling new, non-urgent surgical procedures requiring an inpatient bed as COVID cases continue to climb. Outpatient procedures that do not require an overnight stay in the hospital will go on as planned.

“Like many hospitals across the state, Our Lady of the Lake continues to experience high volumes of COVID and non-COVID patients. Our inpatient facilities remain at capacity,” said Stephanie Manson, Chief Operating Officer at Our Lady of the Lake. “We made this decision to make additional beds and staff available. Previously scheduled procedures are proceeding as scheduled. We continue to schedule outpatient and new urgent surgical procedures.”

“Outpatient procedures are continuing uninterrupted and we encourage patients to maintain those procedures and not delay care,” Manson continued. “Over the last 16 months we have seen the negative health impacts that delaying needed care caused.”

Our Lady of the Lake admitted 25 new COVID-19 patients in the last 24 hours. There are presently 112 COVID-19 patients admitted with 40 percent of those in the ICU. For comparison, on June 14, 2021 there were a total of 35 COVID-19 patients at Our Lady of the Lake.

If someone has minor symptoms – ear pain, tooth pain, rash without swelling, a sore throat without a fever, or just needs a medication refill – they can contact our team to schedule a video visit by calling 765-5500. The emergency room should be utilized for severe symptoms or life-threatening emergencies.

If unsure whether symptoms qualify as minor or severe, please call our nurse hotline at (225)-765-LAKE (5253). In an emergency, always dial 911.