Cancer Patient Worried Sutter Roseville Backlog May Delay Surgery Until It's Too Late
ROSEVILLE (CBS13) — An influx of patients across the country is creating a challenge for doctors and big delays for those with scheduled surgeries at Sutter Roseville Medical Center.
A Roseville cancer patient says he was told the hospital was facing a capacity crunch and had to push back his surgery to meet its overflow needs.
The hospital says it happens from time to time and understands it can be a huge inconvenience, but for patients like Oliver Miller, it brings major concerns about how long he'll have to wait for his bladder cancer surgery.
"He wanted it done in four weeks," he said of his doctor's advice. "We're just about at four weeks."
With each anxiety-filled tap and nervous scratch of the head, Miller is trying to stay busy in what's become a hurry-up-and-wait game with Sutter Roseville.
"The urologist for the surgeon called and said Sutter Roseville has cancelled all operations," he said. "The demand for rooms and basically of lack of more rooms was the reason."
The 73-year-old was scheduled to undergo surgery for bladder cancer on Wednesday morning. It's his second bout with the disease, and this time it's more aggressive.
"I'm concerned," he said. "My wife is concerned. My family is concerned. I was geared up emotionally and ready to get this done again. It's not the most pleasant experience in the world."
The hospital has 328 beds, but some of those are specialized for labor and delivery and rehab. A hospital spokesperson says patient numbers are constantly changing, and they have recently experienced a surge in those numbers.
"In order to ensure that our emergency and urgent patients receive the care they need, we sometimes postpone elective procedures that our doctors confirm can be rescheduled. If a patient is rescheduled, we work to get them a new appointment date as soon as possible."
But Miller says that call hasn't come, which stirs up fear and uncertainty when his life and other lives are on the line.
"How do they know next Monday or Tuesday or Thursday it's going to be better and we can move on with our normal schedule? Or is it going to be two months down the road?" he said.
While hospital officials say they're doing everything they can to address patient flow, Miller is quick to point out the doctors have been wonderful throughout his treatment. He just hopes that treatment will continue, and on schedule, so he and others won't be compromised in their most vulnerable state.
"When you're playing with people's lives and you're looking at the bottom line, that bothers me a lot," he said.