METAIRIE – The emergency room at Tulane Lakeside Hospital is closing down tomorrow so hospital administrators can shift resources to other campuses to help battle the coronavirus outbreak in New Orleans.
The emergency department will close down at 6 p.m. on March 20. Hospital officials say they do not have a set time for the ER to reopen.
“Tulane Lakeside has no patients being treated, or awaiting test results, for suspected COVID-19,” Tulane Health System CEO Dr. Bob Lynch said. “Closing the ER here will allow us to move key clinical staff and physicians to the downtown Tulane Medical Center campus, which is experiencing a surge of COVID-19 and suspected COVID-19 patients.”
The hospital’s inpatient services, including women’s services, neonatal intensive care services, orthopedics and inpatient rehabilitation, will remain open.
“This decision reflects our overarching responsibility to whatever we can to meet this unprecedented challenge,” Dr. Lynch said. “I thank all our staff and caregivers – and those throughout our community – for their continued selfless work to care for those in need.”