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“They have continued on the front line for many months and the physical and emotional exhaustion has become apparent. Currently, about 25% of the health personnel in our clinics have medical licenses, of various kinds, but many due to the exhaustion and stress that the pandemic has had on them, “he says. Alfredo Schönherr, president of Clinicas de Chile.
Thus, the representative of the private providers warns about one of the most complex obstacles that healthcare management would have in the face of a second wave, mainly in critical patient units. “The number of Covid cases has seen a considerable increase in recent weeks and the private provider sector is alert”, says Schönherr, detailing that despite the infrastructure, equipment and material elements that are required in the face of the coronavirus, “human resources could be insufficient to face massive attention. The capabilities of the integrated health network are not infinite, there are hundreds of thousands of health workers who have made efforts never seen before and who view with concern a scenario of systematic increase in care for Covid-19 ”.
According to the balance of the clinics, the private centers contributed almost 1,300 critical beds to the integrated network, that is, 40% of the places available at the time of the peak. In addition, almost 15,000 additional health professionals and technicians were hired, totaling 120,000 officials who were treating coronavirus patients.
And in total, the private facilities have treated the hospitalization of 20 thousand people affected with the virus, 8,400 of them in critical units.
In the current context, adds the spokesperson for the clinics, “all efforts will be made. However, we must bear in mind that today’s conditions are different from those of the middle of the year, mainly due to the limitation in the possibilities of attention ”, associated with the reduction of personnel.
Cristián de la Fuente, operations manager of the UC Christus Health Network, coincides in the diagnosis. “We are with 20% of our staff licensed, there is a great absenteeism. Many people with stress and, also, many people with fear, and obviously affected psychologically by the pandemic ”.
De la Fuente details that they have 32 adult intensive care beds in the Clinical Hospital, which could be expanded to 67. Meanwhile, in San Carlos de Apoquindo they would expand the places from eight to 19, if necessary. “Our great challenge at this time, more than the capacity of beds or mechanical ventilators, is the personnel to attend to patients,” he says.
The medical director of Clínica Alemana, Bernd Oberpaur, adds to this vision. “The scenario for a possible second wave is different from what we had in March and we are concerned. Our staff is more tired, which has resulted in an increase in medical licenses, mainly in the nursing teams: approximately 20% ”.
It also details that the ICU places are occupied by Covid and non-Covid patients, with a demand that is increasing. “All, factors that make the conversion of beds more complex and we do not have the response capacity that we had in the first months of 2020.”
Sebastián Ugarte, head of the critical patient unit at Clínica Indisa, reports that absenteeism from work has grown, “not unjustifiably, but because of how hard the pandemic has been for health personnel.” And he says that despite the work that has been done to amortize its effects, “it has been extremely demanding. We had 80 critical beds, at the time of the peak we exceeded 200 and now we have 120. We never got back to normal. So, it’s nine months of a lot of sustained effort, that counts ”.
The intensivist and coordinator of the private sector of the integrated network, Luis Castillo, says that it is a reality that has been seen in all countries that have had to face the pandemic. “The second wave in all parts of the world has been more delicate and complicated, because they are faced with a much more tired staff and, despite having more experience, they have been faced with a very strong work overload”, he highlights.
With this in view, Castillo anticipates that next week Minsal representatives will begin a review of all UPCs in the country, with visits from specialists in the field, to determine both the strengths and the gaps of each unit, including personnel, in order to detect them in time and supply them before the demand grows exponentially.
Schönherr also highlighted that the possibility of a second wave also implies “devastating effects for thousands of people who would be left with their care and treatment of other diseases postponed, which are often related to chronic diseases that can even lead to death”.
In this context, he pointed out that in the most critical months – May and June – there was an 80% decrease in normal activity, compared to the same period in 2019.
Currently, he said, people have been resuming their consultations and treatments. “However, we are reaching the end of the year with a decrease in the number of benefits of around 20%. In the item surgeries, this decrease reaches 25%, while in medical consultations the decrease represents 30% ”.
On the balance, the representative of the clinics explains that “not only implies a decrease in activity, but these numbers are the testimony of many people with chronic diseases who have postponed their care, which harms their treatments and prognoses.”
