St. Charles Bend suspends heart, lung surgeries until Nov. 10

St. Charles Health System on Friday temporarily suspended heart and lung surgeries at St. Charles Bend for up to 12 days “due to an unexpected physician coverage issue.”

In a statement, the hospital said its “leaders expect to restore the service by Nov. 10 and are continuing to work on securing physician coverage prior to that date.”

Dr. Jeff Absalon, chief physician officer for St. Charles, said the hospital has one full-time cardio-thoracic surgeon who could not cover his 10-day shift, for an unexpected reason he would not disclose.

He said two other surgeons who work part-time in Bend and also two other western Oregon locations were unavailable to provide backup for him.

Patients in need of urgent or emergency cardio-thoracic surgery – which includes heart and lung surgeries – will be transferred to Oregon Health & Sciences University in Portland during this time frame, if necessary, officials said.

Cardiologists are still available to conduct interventional procedures in the cardiac catheterization lab and vascular surgeons are available in Bend as well, officials said.

All patients scheduled for surgery over the next 12 days will be evaluated to determine if their surgeries can be postponed or if they should be transferred for care, the organization said.

“It is our top priority to ensure patients receive safe, quality care,” Absalon said. “We apologize for this unexpected physician coverage issue and are doing everything we can to secure physician coverage as soon as possible.”

Hospital spokeswoman Kayley Mendenhall said the suspension only affected four scheduled lung surgeries and two heart surgeries.

“We don’t have anybody here to do open-heart surgery” at this time, she said, although they are “able to treat heart attack patients through interventional cardiology.”

It’s a rare occurrence for the Bend hospital, she said. “We don’t think it’s happened in at least 15 years.”

Mendenhall also said the surgery suspension is unrelated to a staff-training issue that prompted a moratorium on obstetrical services at St. Charles Madras for several months. Baby deliveries have been diverted to Redmond or Bend, a situation now expected to be resolved early next year.