TAMPA, Fla. — Patients who had to postpone "elective" surgeries and procedures can now move forward as part of Phase 1 of Gov. Ron DeSantis' plan to re-open Florida, so hospitals have been busy getting those procedures rescheduled.
Moffitt Cancer Surgeon Dr. Philippe Spiess said it was tough to tell patients they had to wait.
“As cancer surgeons, I’ve always felt none of what we do is truly elective,” Spiess said.
That's all changing thanks to the governor's decision to move forward with getting the state up and running again.
“The last 24 hours in my practice we’ve rescheduled about 80 percent of those patients,” Spiess explained.
It’s good news for 67-year-old Ivan Campodonico, who was originally scheduled to have surgery at Moffitt earlier this month to remove a mass in his kidney.
“I was ready," Campodonico said. "I was actually ready.”
Campodonico said he plans to reschedule after a check up next week.
For more on this story, watch the video above.
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