After losing millions of dollars from suspending non-essential services during the COVID-19 crisis, New Hanover Regional Medical Center on Monday began phasing back in some procedures.
 
NHRMC reopened its first phase of surgical services and diagnostic testing, basing the plan on “a phased, calculated approach guided by a dozen metrics that serve as a guide to safely reopen services,” officials said in a news release.
 
State officials reported Monday that there have been nearly 12,000 lab-confirmed cases and 430 deaths associated with COVID-19 across North Carolina. There are about 500 people currently hospitalized statewide, according to the state.
 
On March 20, the NHRMC system announced it was postponing non-essential surgeries for the system to have flexibility for staffing, space and resources as it prepared to treat COVID-19 patients. While operating rooms were available at New Hanover Regional’s main 17st Street facility and Orthopedic Hospital for essential procedures, others were put on hold.
 
The shift had a significant impact on NHRMC’s financials that month.
 
While New Hanover Regional had forecasted an operating margin of about $6 million for March, the system lost nearly $6 million, NHRMC spokesman Julian March said.
 
NHRMC’s investments also took an approximate $44 million hit in March, as the coronavirus pandemic and economic shock from shutdowns affected the markets.
 
Hospital officials warned by the end of March of expected losses, as health systems around the country also have reported financial difficulties. The federal CARES Act included $100 billion in relief funds to hospitals and health care providers, partly to help with the lost revenue.

NHRMC has received about $28 million from that CARES Act funding.

"The relief funds will be used to support healthcare-related expenses and lost revenue from COVID-19," March said. "NHRMC does not expect to receive funding to cover all losses but plans to apply to every available resource for COVID-19 funding."
 
New Hanover Regional’s $6 million operating loss in March came while the system limited services for just part of the month.
 
April is projected to have a larger negative impact, officials said, adding that those numbers are not expected to be available until mid-June.
 
“In recent weeks, NHRMC has focused on increasing clinical capacity, bolstering PPE [personal protective equipment] supplies and developing staffing models and alternate space plans to handle a possible influx of patients according to predictive COVID-19 models. Based on our framework, we are confident it is safe to begin our phased approach of reopening services,” Philip Brown, NHRMC’s chief physician executive, said in a news release about Monday’s restart.
 
Hospital officials pointed out that some patients’ procedures that were not urgent a month ago have become so since then. They added that safety measures that have been implemented, including isolation rooms, employee temperature checks, visitor restrictions and strict cleaning protocols would continue.
 
“We could not safely reopen without a plan in place that allows us to pause or reverse our plans, and our framework provides an early warning if we need to make any modifications for an imminent surge of patients,” West Paul, NHRMC’s chief clinical officer, said in the release. “We continue to closely monitor the situation and remain prepared to respond to a sudden outbreak in our region.”