A representative of the Santara clinics warned: in the Vilnius region, COVID-19 beds will be enough to treat patients for less than a week

As Aušra Bilotienė-Motiejūnienė, Director of Management of Santara Clinics, said in the debate “The second wave of COVID-19, how Lithuania is prepared to resist it: problems and proposals” held on Thursday at the Seimas evening session, two things are the most feared at the moment:

“We have a problem with possible beds, because today in the Vilnius region, according to the agreement, we do not have more than 150 beds, which we can gradually expand to other medical institutions.” Meaning [kad jų užteks] less than a week if this trend continues. Therefore, certain legal acts, some coordination and, of course, a plan are needed ”, warned A. Bilotienė-Motiejūnienė.

According to the doctor, around 20 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in the Vilnius region every day. In order to have enough space for everyone, it is necessary to expand the fund for beds for these patients in the region.

“At the same time, not only we, but also the medical institutions throughout the district and region, must ensure that the population receives the necessary and necessary emergency care and planned services,” said the representative from Clinicas Santara.

Due to the possibility of relocating COVID-19 patients, work at the Santara clinics is constantly being reorganized, with representatives of the clinics communicating with other medical institutions in the region on a daily basis to negotiate accommodation for infected patients. by coronavirus.

Unfortunately, not all treatment facilities are responsive and the Santara Clinics, as the organizing body, do not have the administrative authority to say and agree on how many, where and what beds are needed.

The Vilnius City Clinical Hospital is currently cooperating with the Santara Clinics in treating COVID-19 patients in the Vilnius region. This hospital is already treating 75 patients infected with coronavirus.

Ukmergė Hospital has also started to cooperate with Santara clinics since that day, where there will be 28 places to treat COVID-19 patients.

“We are also trying to reach an agreement with other regions, but the key question is: ‘And how will we provide the necessary assistance? How will we secure scheduled services? How will we provide COVID-19 services with the same human resources to the same time, and what payment will we receive for less or refusing to provide certain services?

My suggestion would be to overwhelm the bodies that organize the cluster to have administrative powers. Now we have more to organize orders, but without tools.

Or it could be a coordinating person in the government, under the government, who would be best suited to organize and see the whole Lithuanian system in a broader time at this time, ”suggested A. Bilotienė-Motiejūnienė.

A spokeswoman for the Santara clinics noted that it is also difficult with the missing staff. For example, the Santara Clinics Infectious Disease Center employed about 40 people prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Currently there are 225 people attending and working.

True, according to A. Bilotienė-Motiejūnienė, this is the same as during the first wave of the pandemic, when not only the number of patients was lower, but planned services were also suspended. And currently, with the same number of staff, attempts are being made not only to treat COVID-19 patients, but also to provide other necessary services. Resident physicians are also called in to help ensure this. However, this solves the problem in part.

According to A. Bilotienė-Motiejūnienė, according to A. Bilotienė-Motiejūnienė, a large number of employees of health institutions working in the Vilnius region are at risk according to age, are chronic, comorbid, suffer from COVID-19 disease or are in self isolation.

“It would be appropriate to assess the current situation. Everyone says there will be enough human resources, but I doubt it. With such morbidity, such a degree of self-isolation to ensure scheduled essential services and treatment of COVID-19, it would probably be necessary to select and self-assess the situation. and planning the provision of human resources for the treatment of COVID-19. It is also possible to use mobile equipment and other resources, “suggested A. Bilotienė-Motiejūnienė.

The representative of A. Bilotienė-Motiejūnienė pointed out that it is not at all clear about nursing care and support institutions, where, as is known, the disease spreads very rapidly.

“Today in the Vilnius region we have several institutions of this type where there is a large number of diseases of this type. The institutions must coordinate so that neither the staff nor the care institutions are left in the dark and can receive help,” said one spokesperson for Clinicas Santara.