Yeah, my internist is closing save, urgent related matters. Dentist also pulled plug. My wife is an anesthesiologist at a (outpatient) surgery center, and yes they have called off any elective surgeries entirely. There's a narrow band of necessary surgeries which they are still performing (broken ankles, etc. patients that would otherwise see increased health risks, or significant burden to Q of life if not performed).
One of the items her colleagues and adjacent hospital peers are concerned about are 'other' medical centers still performing cases, which could create pressure on supplies, which may be needed in the event...of, well you know. Another interesting note on her world, ventilators. The big ones, are really huge btw. Hospitals don't stockpile ventilators by the dozens or thousands, for obvious reasons, there's never been a reason to have 100s, 1,000s in one or more location in a market. Furthermore, there's only so many qualified persons who can operate such machines (apparently about 135,000, one wonders how quickly that could be addressed.). Usual heavy cluster in high population centers, very few in rural areas. The Feds do actually have a stockpile of ventilators (amounts to about 12,000 or so) in a country that has about 200,000 in operation. Those of course will be put to use if needed. What's developing is a war effort type deployment of resources and personnel, really at all levels of medicine/govt. Regrettably one of my wife's partners tells me the four major manufacturers are overseas. (Europe and Asia).
