By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com

Livingston County’s representation in the Michigan Senate is urging the governor to lift restrictions on elective medical procedures.

22nd District Republican State Senator Lana Theis of Brighton Township sponsored a resolution that was adopted by the Senate, Tuesday, requesting that Governor Gretchen Whitmer revise portions of Executive Order 2020-17 to allow hospitals and health care facilities to resume elective procedures.

Theis told WHMI’s Mike and Jon in the Morning (interview link is below) that lifting the ban would clear up a lot of confusion that it has caused. She said, “We’re trying to encourage the governor to allow elective procedures. Right now there are a lot of people who are waiting on medical procedures that aren’t able to get them done. And there’s a lot of confusion on what should be allowed and what shouldn’t be allowed, and so hospitals and medical providers are very hesitant to allow things that perhaps the governor absolutely allowed to have happen or wanted to allow to have happen, but they’re unsure and there’s a lot of misunderstanding.”

The order took effect March 21st, and required hospitals, dental facilities, and all freestanding and state-operated outpatient facilities to postpone non-essential procedures. Whitmer has said postponing nonessential procedures reduces the strain on the health care system and protects people from infection.

“Every executive order is driven by what is best for public health right now. This second guessing of the intentions of the governor is misplaced at best and callous at worst,” said Sen. Jeremy Moss, a Southfield Democrat. He said hospitals already are exploring the ability to restart elective procedures. The Senate, he said, should instead consider policies to ensure workers displaced by the economic crisis get health coverage and those who are working have paid sick leave and access to child care.

Theis said, “With this resolution, I’m saying let’s just open it up. Let’s let the medical providers determine what is medically safe and let’s go ahead and let them provide these services because many of them are actually needed. We might call them elective, but if you’re walking around on a knee where every time you stand up it’s really, really painful, or if you have melanoma- those are things you really want to have treated right now. And if you can do it safely, we ouoght to make sure that happens.”

More than 12 states that had similar restrictions have lifted them, deeming it safe for providers to resume elective procedures, according to a release from her office.

Theis said that “Michiganders can and should be trusted to return to work safely, especially in hospitals and health care facilities, which is their area of expertise. Getting them back to work, and their patients the care they need, is an important step to reopening Michigan’s economy and rejuvenating people’s lives. I am hopeful the governor will rethink this order for their sake.”

Find Senate Resolution 111 at http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2020-SR-0111