There is still no shortage of COVID-19 beds in the Vilnius region, but some hospitals are not going to accept them.

As of November 9, the Santara clinics are treating 133 patients with COVID-19, including 15 in the Resuscitation and Intensive Care Unit. Of 133 patients with COVID-19, 1 child. In addition to the Santara Clinics, these patients are admitted to the Vilnius Municipal Clinical Hospital (VMKL), which, according to data from Monday, treats 99 patients with COVID-19, 3 of them in the Resuscitation-Intensive Care Unit.

Ukmergė Hospital treats 8 patients with COVID-19, including 1 in the Resuscitation Intensive Care Unit and 13 patients at V. Kudirka Hospital in Alytus.

Every day: 20-25 new patients

So far, there are enough places for COVID-19 patients in the Vilnius region, they should be enough also for Tuesday and Wednesday, as Alytus Hospital has 20 places on Friday and the same number on Monday. There are still around 20 places in Ukmergė hospital.

On Tuesday, the ward will also start operating at the Švenčionys Hospital, just how many patients can be treated there, A.Bilotienė Motiejūnienė could not say exactly yet: a COVID-19 outbreak was registered in this hospital, so specialists from the Santara clinics went to the hospital on Monday to clarify the situation.

“It just came to our notice then. We plan to further expand ourselves and other hospitals in the region. We are talking with Antakalnis Hospital (Vilnius City Clinical Hospital (VMKL) – ed.) 30 of which could be expanded this week -60 beds, depending on the number of patients. About 20-25 patients are admitted per day, about 60-70 percent. Of them oxygen is needed, which means that some beds are needed with all the equipment, others not ” said the managing director.

According to her, it is important to have more than beds and equipment. It is much more important to allocate human resources in a way that is sufficient to serve medical patients: “We strive to provide an additional 30-unit unit, ward, or other hospital in the region each day to properly plan human resources. Here today we have more than 70 sick doctors in the Santara clinics, more than 80 are in self-isolation. These numbers are constantly changing, appearing in other institutions as well as in sick personnel and outbreaks, so we try to react intensively every day by reorganizing work ”.

We have been calm for a few days. We plan to further expand ourselves, as well as other hospitals in the region.

The Vilnius Republican University Hospital (RVUL) in Lazdynai should have been one of the supporting hospitals, but at least for the moment it is still being considered which option to choose. Flows of patients needing urgent or planned care are directed there, because such services have decreased at VMKL, and the Vilnius M. Marcinkevičius Hospital cannot accept all patients.

Efforts are also being made to provide these services at the Santara clinics, where work is resumed in previously closed rooms.

At least for the moment, a separate RVUL section for COVID-19 patients is not being developed, although such patients do exist.

“It is decided whether there should be places there, or whether we still take them and leave them as a ‘clean’ hospital to provide emergency care as much as needed,” said A. Bilotienė Motiejūnienė.

“We do not write deeds”

Speaking of other hospitals, he mentioned Druskininkai, Varėna and Lazdijus: today. But this week, we see that we need an additional 30 beds a day. Therefore, we can look, deal with hospital directors, self-government.

It is considered whether the referral hospital should be separated as a COVID-19 hospital by redistributing patient flows, or whether separate COVID-19 units of 30-40 beds should be introduced in all referral hospitals, with the necessary additional support and scheduled services “.

So far the support hospitals are talking to us, I have not noticed that someone is not doing something, but we are not writing the scriptures today.

According to the minister’s order, Santara clinics must coordinate with other hospitals on new beds for COVID-19 patients and this is happening, the managing director said.

“Until now, the support hospitals are talking to us, I have not noticed that someone is not doing something, but today we are not writing the Scriptures because, as I said, we have enough beds for a few days. But it’s not that we only have a few days and then we don’t. Every day we have to secure a new unit to have a team, which means that today we don’t need 100 beds, we need to have 30 so that we can guarantee supervision as well, ”said A.Bilotienė Motiejūnienė.

Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga said on Monday that not all Lithuanian hospitals are willing to install such rooms for COVID-19 patients. There is even said to be one whose administration has provided a comprehensive list of requirements that they lack for such a division to emerge.

No team because he’s not ready

And that list includes not only the equipment necessary to treat such patients, but also the repair of premises or even the purchase of cars. The minister did not name the hospital, suggesting that the latter should understand it for himself.

However, some patient managers believe that they do not have access to COVID-19 patients. One of them is the Širvintos Hospital. Its deputy director is Elona Pečiukaitienė 15 minutes He said Širvintos Hospital will likely be the last to receive these patients.

We will be a support hospital for the Santara clinics and, above all, for the Ukmergė hospital. Because there is not only COVID-19 disease, but also other diseases, patients would like to safely lie down somewhere to be cured.

“We are not ready, there is no money for the first wave. We have been removed from that list to be prepared. We will be a support hospital for the Santara clinics and, above all, for the Ukmergė Hospital, where it is preparing to treat patients with COVID-19. Because there is not only COVID-19 disease, but also other diseases, patients would like to safely lie down somewhere to be cured.

We have a three-story hospital building, if we had wanted, we could have taken our entire building and it could have been one of the smartest steps, but we can’t say anything, it is as it is, ”said the deputy director of the Širvintos Hospital.

She said it was not the hospital’s reluctance to accept patients, but that the hospital was not prepared to have COVID-19 beds.

“It just came to our knowledge then. But currently we have several nursing and internal medicine patients. Ukmergė sends us, from the Reception Department, seeing that treatment is needed, usually to us or to the Molėtai Hospital. We are cooperating with our neighbors,” said E. Pečiukaitienė.

According to the deputy director, the Širvintos hospital does not mainly have the equipment to treat COVID-19 patients: oxygen devices. In addition, the structure of the hospital itself is not adapted, it must be changed, because in the same rooms the smallest room for COVID-19 patients will not be separated, it must be a specially prepared floor or part of it.