ELECTIVE surgeries will drop from 75 per cent capacity at Ballarat Health Services to only the most urgent cases under new health department restrictions.
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In line with stage three lockdowns, all non-urgent elective surgeries in public and private hospitals across regional Victoria have been put on hold.
BHS will be limited to category one and high-urgency category two cases after an announcement from the premier and health minister on Wednesday morning.
In a statement, BHS confirmed it would continue working closing with St John of God Ballarat Hospital and other health providers in case loads during the COVID-19 pandemic.
BHS had already been deferring most of its category three elective surgeries when clinically safe.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the elective surgery pause was necessary to better prepare hospitals in the latest wave of COVID-19 cases.
"(This is) designed to be able to create greater capacity to support aged care in those regional communities as well as to support if they continue to see new coronavirus cases in regional Victoria," Minister Mikakos said.
While case numbers in regional Victoria were comparatively low to metropolitan areas, Minister Mikakos said they were still emerging "from Portland to Gippsland".
Minister Mikakos said hospitals could resume normal surgery activity as soon as deemed safe to do so and the government was planning an elective surgery blitz.
BHS confirmed on Wednesday it was caring for two active COVID-19 patients, both in a stable condition, in the Base Hospital.
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