Relatives of the elderly woman admitted to the Vilnius hospital received the news: they were not only infected with the coronavirus, but they were also transported to another city.

As Delfi told her grandmother (her name is known to the editorial board), on November 2. his mother-in-law, born in 1927, fractured both tibiae in an open ankle fracture while failing.

“Strong soft tissues are damaged. The ambulance arrived quickly and she was hospitalized at Vilnius University Lazdynai Hospital. The circus started. The man was hospitalized at 9 in the morning, but due to a coronavirus test, in the admission room, with an open fracture, detached until a sample was found, he lay down for up to 20 hours. All right, the bleeding stopped, the painkillers were injected, the virus sample was negative.

After 8 pm placed in an orthopedic room and performed surgery. Successful, great. He built a Yelizar apparatus. The foot heals, the soft tissues hard but heal. Patient wins but has difficulty navigating after surgery. It is not possible to visit or carry hygiene products “.

According to the man, the family reconciled that they would not be able to visit the grandmother, but it was difficult to call the treating doctors since they were all busy and after 10 days of hospitalization it became completely impossible to find information in the operating room.

“There are no such patients! Where did the patient go? The information is obtained after long searches: the patient is sick. kovidu! Taken healthy to the Lazdynai Hospital, who passed the check-up at the reception for more than 10 hours, after discovering that there was no infection, he was operated and placed in the second orthopedic room, suddenly infected! And the relatives were informed about it only after three days. Where, when, how did you get sick with coronavirus, where do you lie down, how do you feel, quiet in peace?

No one provides information, you cannot visit, just a phone conversation, but the older person is not very oriented. After a long search, a man is finally found. It turns out from the orthopedic ward to the newly created coronavirus ward on the third floor. Well, the most important thing is maintenance. “

However, the son-in-law adds, this was not the end of the story. The man, he said, with an open fracture, was hospitalized with a coronavirus, was transferred to another hospital in the city.

“It is not clear why he was transported from Vilnius to Ukmergė Hospital! Why? Dying? Relatives – in Vilnius, children – in Vilnius, grandchildren – in Vilnius. Turns out it frees up space for younger patients! What What did the government do to prevent the elderly citizens of the Republic of Lithuania from being transported to the periphery to die? ”the man asked rhetorically.

There is a division of patients

RVUL spokesperson Asta Bagdonavičienė told Delfi that with the recent deterioration in the epidemiological situation, most personal healthcare facilities are facing challenges due to the sharp increase in the flow of COVID-19 patients.

“Unfortunately, it is not possible to treat all COVID-19 patients in one hospital, therefore in the Vilnius region there is a division of patients between so-called support hospitals, which are used to help the Santara clinics , which organizes services and provides basic care to these patients. “

He stated that the Vilnius Republican Republican Hospital, based on its specialization, is an emergency medical institution serving the largest flow of patients seeking emergency care, and this remains an operational priority even in pandemic conditions.

Currently, the hospital has hospitalized patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (according to today’s data, we have 21), but after providing assistance for the main reason and allowing the patient’s health status, they will eventually be transferred to other facilities treatment in the Vilnius region. Patients with COVID-19 ”, commented the spokeswoman.

A. Bagdonavičienė pointed out that the main hospitals to which treated patients are transported are the Vilnius City Clinical Hospital and the Ukmergė Hospital.

“The decision to transfer a patient should always take into account their health status and will ensure that the receiving medical institution has the necessary medical and nursing staff and the necessary infrastructure. We do not divide patients by age groups, the criteria more important remains the therapeutic indication, but it is transported to the hospital that currently has vacancies and can accept the patient.

We understand the dissatisfaction and anxiety resulting from patients or their loved ones, but the resources of the health system in each country are limited and must be shared by all members of society ”.

It is possible to get infected with a coronavirus in a hospital

When asked if a patient could become infected with coronavirus in hospital, he said that, sadly, that possibility is real.

“Although all patients admitted to the hospital are tested for coronavirus, we had more than one case with a negative test on the day of hospitalization and a positive test after a few days or even the next day.

Wards with multiple patients are a potentially higher risk area: people spend a lot of time indoors, not all patients are scrupulously hygienic, the contact time is long, which makes the conditions for the virus to spread more favorable “.

The spokeswoman added that the institution’s staff enter the same society after work, where the prevalence of COVID-19 is high, so that although disabled workers are immediately removed from work, it is very difficult to identify asymptomatic cases.

“We constantly make great efforts in the field of infection control: we strictly require all necessary personal protective equipment in the workplace, our medical staff is investigated much more intensively than required by regulations, each case of infection in the institution it is analyzed quickly to avoid further spread, but at 100% we have no guarantee of safety either. “