Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine, Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic have identified dozens of patients who had planned to come to the U.S. for medical care from the countries subject to President Donald Trump's executive order on travel and immigration, reports STAT.
President Trump's order, which he signed Friday, temporarily bans travel to the U.S. by citizens of seven Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days. The ban also suspends the entire U.S. refugee admissions system for 120 days and the Syrian refugee program indefinitely, according to The Guardian.
Johns Hopkins Medicine has identified at least 11 patients in the nations included in the ban who had plans to travel to the U.S. for medical care in the next 90 days, while the Cleveland Clinic has found nine. Mayo Clinic knows of 20 patients who may be affected by the ban, and said nearly 80 staff, physicians and scholars affiliated with the organization have ties to all seven of the affected Middle Eastern countries, according to ABC 6 News.
"These are very, very ill patients," Pamela Paulk, president of Johns Hopkins Medicine International, told STAT. "In most cases, these are not cases to be postponed."
Though Ms. Paulk said the patients should have already secured visas to travel to the U.S. for care, Johns Hopkins is concerned the patients will not be allowed to enter the country, according to the report.
The international patients who come to Johns Hopkins for care typically have difficult cases that cannot be adequately treated in their native countries, requiring complex treatments such as neurosurgeries, spine surgeries and bone marrow transplants. The organization is reaching out to the affected patients and trying to determine if their care can be postponed, according to the report. If not, Johns Hopkins could send some of its staff abroad to treat the patients, or find another health system outside of the U.S. to provide their care.
Mayo Clinic President and CEO John Noseworthy, MD, and the Cleveland Clinic issued statements over the weekend on President Trump's executive order. Read them here.
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