(WKYT)

By Victor Puente

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – One of the first steps the state of Kentucky took when faced with the COVID-19 pandemic was canceling elective and non-emergency procedures at hospitals.

The move was done to try to limit the use of personal protective equipment, and reduce potential exposure to the virus for health care workers.

Since then, Kentucky’s health care system has been able to keep up with the number of COVID-19 cases, and starting next week some of those health care services will resume.

Wednesday, Governor Andy Bashear announced there will be a phased reopening, initially starting with diagnostic and radiology testing and then moving to other parts of health care.

“There are other pieces to this, from there to other phases and we are hoping they can potentially go, by weeks so weeks, if it takes a little bit longer it will but we are hoping by weeks,” Gov. Beshear said. “And then we will be able to move from there into outpatient and ambulatory procedures and then eventually from there to an even broader reopening of elective procedures.”

A few weeks ago some of Lexington’s largest hospitals, UK HealthCare and Baptist Health, announced they would be doing furloughs, in part because of the loss of revenue with the reduction in elective procedures.