IV Shortage Forces UR Medicine to Delay Elective Surgeries

"“Since Hurricane Helene, hospitals nationwide have experienced significantly reduced shipments of IV sterile fluids. The U.S. government has approved use of fluids from international suppliers, and UR Medicine procurement teams are working to increase supplies from multiple vendors. While shipments of IV fluids have resumed at lower rates than before, and UR Medicine faculty and staff have taken multiple innovative steps to use fluids more efficiently, the incoming supply of IV fluids still does not match the rate at which they are used. The pause on some elective and semi-elective surgeries will help UR Medicine extend its system-wide reserves of sterile fluids, ensuring consistent patient care across all locations with urgent and emergent cases as priorities. All cases will be reviewed daily to determine urgency and sterile fluid needs and surgeries and procedures requiring little or no IV sterile fluid use will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Patients will be contacted directly if their case must be postponed; they do not need to contact their surgeon’s office. UR Medicine hospitals will resume full surgery schedules as soon as available resources allow.”"