Windsor Regional Hospital has been given the green light to resume non-urgent and non-emergency surgeries.
The province's order to halt the procedures has been rescinded as the number of COVID-19 cases across Ontario continues to drop.
Hospital president and CEO David Musyj says the first step will be day surgeries that don't require a patient to be admitted to a bed following the procedure.
He says it'll be a slow process.
"The government is still very concerned with respect to the volume of COVID positive patients in beds across the province including ICU beds. If they move too quickly, they will not have enough capacity in the system to handle a possible wave four."
Musyj says the public has been understanding when it comes to cancellations.
"The patients have been great and they've been very patient. We're very limited with the government limitations on how quickly we can proceed. They do not want us to proceed too quickly, but we will get through it. We will get back up and running. It's going to take some time and that's for everyone's safety."
He says it's a small step to getting back to normal.
"We're heading in the right direction, it's just, as with everything over the last 15 or 16 months, we know we should not be taking this virus for granted or thinking that we're on top of it because it could turn around on us really quickly. So we keep saying it, but we're definitely closer to the end than the beginning."
Musyj is asking patients not to call the hospital — staff will be reaching out to reschedule procedures.
Non-urgent surgeries were put on hold April 20 as COVID-19 cases were skyrocketing across the province.