Gov. Ricketts extends Directed Health Measure to protect hospital capacity

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Governor Pete Ricketts announced Wednesday that the State is extending its Directed Health Measure to address hospital staffing shortages. Initially, the DHM was set to expire on September 30. With the extension, it will remain in force through October 31 unless renewed.

The DHM suspends inpatient Class D and Class E elective surgeries for all Acute Care, Critical Care, and Children’s Hospitals in Nebraska. These are elective surgeries that can wait four weeks or longer without substantially changing a patient’s outcome.

According to the Nebraska Hospital Capacity Dashboard, there are only 24 percent of staffed hospital beds available and 15 percent of staffed ICU beds available in the state.

For pediatric patients, there are 23 percent of staffed hospital beds available and 16 percent of staffed ICU beds available.

The DHM is available by clicking here.