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The crown crisis has led to the fact that hospitals in eastern Switzerland are currently underutilized; in some cases, the occupancy rate is less than 50 percent. Hospital groups have applied for short-term work.
Fewer emergencies, without electoral intervention: Hospitals are currently understaffed due to the coronavirus and revenues are declining.
Hospitals and their staff have hardly ever been in the limelight as they are now. You have done everything possible to be prepared for an avalanche of Corona patients. All treatments that can be postponed are postponed, additional resources have accumulated. The national closure also has a main objective: to avoid overloading the health system. It works so far. The situation in hospitals in eastern Switzerland is anything but comfortable. They are currently underused, with negative economic consequences. Hospital networks in the cantons of St. Gallen and Ausserrhoden have applied for short-term work, as has Spital Thurgau AG.
At least every second bed is empty
At St. Gallen Cantonal Hospital, over 90 percent of beds are normally occupied. Before Easter it was less than 50 percent: “tendency to keep falling,” as media spokesman Philipp Lutz says. The Fürstenland-Toggenburg hospital network reports the same numbers. In Altstätten, Grabs and Walenstadt, 40 to 45 percent of hospital beds are still occupied; about 85 percent are regular. In the Ausserrhoder hospital network, occupancy currently ranges from 30 to 50 percent. Occupancy at Linth Hospital is slightly higher, at 60 percent.
Not only are postponed and non-urgent treatments noticed, but the number of emergencies has also decreased. Since the population is encouraged to stay at home, fewer accidents occur in traffic, at work, in sports. Also, fewer people report minor medical problems to emergency departments. “However, we cannot rule out the fact that, despite the medical emergency, patients are reluctant to go to the emergency,” says Andrea Bachmann, media spokesperson for the Rheintal-Werdenberg-Sarganserland hospital group (RWS). The signal from hospitals in eastern Switzerland is clear: they are open to emergencies, as media offices emphasize. The Federal Office of Public Health recently also appealed to the population to continue receiving treatment for urgent medical problems.
“Short-term liquidity” is guaranteed
What does the current situation mean for hospital finances? While Thurgau Hospital expects a loss of around one million Swiss francs per day (April 6 issue), so far there are no concrete figures from other regions. “The measures also make a hole in our payment process, which is not yet measurable today,” says Paola Giuliani, CEO of the Appenzell Ausserrhoden association of hospitals. St. Gallen hospital networks are in the process of analyzing March results. Liquidity is guaranteed in the RWS hospital network, says Bachmann. “We can meet all of our financial obligations.” That will also be the case in the coming weeks. “Bottlenecks would only arise if the coronavirus crisis lasted significantly more than two months.” Philipp Lutz of St. Gallen Cantonal Hospital also said “short-term liquidity” was assured.
Short-term work initially affects around a hundred employees in Thurgau hospitals. It’s not that far yet in the other hospitals in eastern Switzerland. St. Gallen hospital associations have applied for short-term work in consultation with the canton as owner, and the review is now underway. The record refers to “numerous departments,” says the network of RWS and Fürstenland-Toggenburg hospitals. As a precaution, the Ausserrhoder Spitalverbund has presented the pre-registration: “It is not yet possible to assess whether short-term work will become a problem in certain professional groups.”
Students must help with bottlenecks.
Even if corona hospitals have yet to invade St. Gallen hospitals: Possible staff shortages due to the pandemic remain a problem. After a call from the canton, more than 500 specialists came forward who want to support the health system if necessary. CVP physician and cantonal councilor Thomas Warzinek also suggested that students from suitable specialized areas could support hospitals as interns, such as nursing students from the university of applied sciences. The government agrees with the CVP MP. In his response to Warzinek’s proposal, he considers that the practical use of medical, nursing, or possibly pedagogy students in the current situation under certain conditions is significant. When nursing students are deployed in hospitals, care must be taken that they are “not systematically overwhelmed,” and they should not have to work at Covid 19 or in intensive care units. According to the government, the tasks should be voluntary and should not exceed two months. Homework should be coordinated with how far students are in their training. However, such aid assignments cannot be counted as normal nursing internships, the government writes. A short-term change in the legal basis is not possible. Prospective physicians at the St.Gallen Master of Medicine could, at best, assist at Corona cantonal testing centers. Overall, the health department is awaiting student engagement, the government said. He would contact schools if necessary. (av)
