Since the COVID-19 outbreak, we have seen an unprecedented impact on so many different sectors of our daily lives. And out healthcare professionals, strained to their limits, have attempted to explain to the public why it is important to heed the guidelines from the CDC as we continue to see the number of infections increase steadily.

Here in Texas, all surgeries that are not essential have been put on hold by order of the Governor, but not everyone understands the rationale for this.

Dr. Johnny Franco, an Austin plastic surgeon and the founder of A More Beautiful You Plastic Surgery says that his office is still getting calls with questions. “People have been calling our office daily with a flood of questions about their elective surgery. Some people are under the impression that if a surgery is not being done in an actual hospital that they don’t need to worry about it and should be able to have their procedure done.”

Dr. Franco says there are multiple reasons why surgeries were put on hold, it isn’t just the spread of COVID-19 for patients and doctors that is at issue. “It’s a matter of resources. We as medical experts have to be leaders.”

Dr. Franco also says that resources need to be preserved. This includes everything from PPE or Personal Protective Equipment and possible ventilators, in the event other local practitioners need his resources. “We started letting our colleagues know weeks ago that we were prepared to provide them with whatever gear we could spare and many of the medical practices in Austin have donated to hospitals.”

Finally, Dr. Franco says that ceasing elective surgical procedures relieves potential strain on the hospital system. “While it is extremely rare for a patient to end up in a hospital as a result of a cosmetic procedure, we want to make sure that need does not even arise. With an event like this, we need to ensure that the hospitals are focused on the pandemic, and not anything else if it can be avoided.”

Dr. Johnny Franco MD is a graduate of Beloit College with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, earned his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and served his residency in Plastic Surgery at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. There, he was chief resident from 2010-2011. In 2011, he completed additional training at Chan Gung Hospital in Taiwan with a focus on microsurgery primarily in cancer reconstruction, followed by a fellowship at Gent University Hospital in Belgium where he specialized in breast reconstruction and fat transfer. He has received many academic achievement awards including the Walter S. Haven Prize, Elizabeth W. Souter Award and the Merck Index Award. Currently he is Clinical Faculty at The University of Texas Dell Medical School and serves as a reviewer for the Aesthetic Journal and Annals of Plastic Surgery. He is an active member of the Austin Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. He is also an active member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.

Dr. Franco has been featured in magazines such as Miami Shoot and the Miami Herald for his expertise in aesthetic surgery while in Miami. Since returning to Texas he has been featured on the Dana Cortez Show on 98.5 the Beat multiple times and on the Billy the Kid show on 96.7. Dr. Franco also currently serves on the advisory board for Realself in an effort to implement new social media trends into their site.