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Cone Health is ready to resume normal surgical procedures

Courtesy Cone Health

Cone Health is planning a return to normal surgical schedules by the end of October. This comes as the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 has declined.

On August 30, Cone Health officials asked surgeons and patients to delay non-essential surgeries that needed to be done in a hospital or required an overnight stay. The goal was to reduce the number of people in the hospital system as COVID-19 cases climbed.

Now officials say the hospital is “comfortable” resuming procedures such as knee surgeries or hernia repair. 

112 people diagnosed with COVID-19 were in Cone Health hospitals as of October 11. That's the lowest number since mid-August.

Meanwhile, more than 99 percent of Cone Health workers have complied with a vaccine requirement for employees.

Of the 13,000 workers in the hospital system, 68 chose not to get a shot and according to a press release, voluntarily left the organization.

Cone officials say the announcement comes as more than 90 percent of people hospitalized with COVID-19 nationwide are unvaccinated.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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