Leave it to corrupt politicians to continually milk any power provided to them. New Jersey Democratic Governor Phil Murphy is disregarding “the science,” and demanding that his constitutes continue to wear masks despite the CDC changing their guidelines. A reader shared the following email with me that she received from a surgeon in New Jersey. She informed me in her letter that the surgeon is nationally renowned for his decades of work and has received numerous accolades. He calls Murphy’s mandate ironic, as the governor continues to ignore the advice coming from the medical community.
In the surgeon’s letter, he notes, “Governor Murphy’s Executive Orders mandating Healthcare Facilities to follow extraordinary measures continue to be active. The New Jersey Association for Ambulatory Surgical Centers has not only asked for these policies to be ended but also submitted suggested changes/improvements. They have not been changed or updated. So for now we must continue to practice medicine as if it was last June.”
Despite trained surgeons urging Governor Murphy to allow the public to breathe again, Murphy refuses to let go of power and is not looking out for the best interest of the people who put him in power. If you live in New Jersey, remember this during Murphy’s reelection in November.
Dear [Anonymous],
I am writing to update everyone on our COVID-19 masking and social distancing policies.
The State of NJ has stated that we can stop using masks in many situations.
Stores and restaurants are returning to normal. People are out again. Life is beginning to return to normal.
We see this in the office every day, as patients want to stop wearing masks. Frankly my staff wants to stop, and I want to stop. We want our waiting room to be open. It is ridiculous to make people wait outside in their cars when it is 90 degrees outside. Many family members want to be in the waiting room when their loved ones are having surgery.
We are regulated by the Department of Health. The Department of Health regulates licensed surgical centers. Last week we received the Department of Health current guidelines for any Healthcare Facility.
As of May 29, 2021, we are required to:
- Continue Social Distancing
- Continue Masking
- Continue Temperature Checks
- Continue Screening Questions
- Children are not Permitted at appointments
- One support person is allowed for surgical appointments
- Waiting Rooms/Common Areas are still closed
- Preoperative COVID testing
- Preoperative REQUIRED home isolation and quarantine
We of course are doing everything that we can to protect our patients. We did this before the pandemic, throughout the pandemic, and we will do it for years to come. There are many other viruses and pathogens besides COVID and we fight against infection every day. It’s what we do. We understand infection prevention, and we will do everything needed to protect our facility and patients. While some things like preoperative testing make sense, many things do not follow scientific logic.
Governor Murphy’s Executive Orders mandating Healthcare Facilities to follow extraordinary measures continue to be active. The New Jersey Association for Ambulatory Surgical Centers has not only asked for these policies to be ended but also submitted suggested changes/improvements. They have not been changed or updated. So for now we must continue to practice medicine as if it was last June.
At some point it will be time to stop wearing masks and to get back to life as it was before the pandemic. According to the State of New Jersey, that time is not here. While we are a [surgery center] and not a hospital, we follow the same rules. Thus, please understand that we will continue to ask you to wear masks. We will continue to limit families from entering the facility. Ironically while we have the education, supplies, and knowhow to be one of the safest spaces where you could be, for now we will continue strict COVID precautions.
