The UMCG will have 17 percent fewer beds available for non-Coronavirus patients from next week
As reported by the RTV Noord, the hospital will already be skipping some of its planned operations from next Wednesday. According to the hospital, this is because the number of Coronavirus patients is increasing. There are now sixteen people suffering from the virus in special nursing wards and eight in intensive care (IC).
Orthopedics and Rheumatology
The UMCG has divided all departments into categories in order to assess which care can best be postponed. The starting point was to prevent serious health damage to patients. The most-affected departments are to be orthopedics, plastic surgery and rheumatology: they each will have their capacity reduced by thirty percent. For most other departments care must be reduced by about twenty percent.
Acute operations will continue in all eventualities, and the oncology department is also likely to be spared as much as possible- although ten percent of oncological treatments are likely to be postponed too.
The UMCG is reserving two nursing wards for Coronavirus patients; and in the IC (at the moment) eighteen of the 44 beds are being set aside for people suffering from the Coronavirus. According to the hospital, this is only possible if less ordinary care is provided.
Outpatient care continues, but by telephone as much as possible. Day treatments are also continuing.
Image via Donald Trung Quoc Don (Chữ Hán: 徵國單) on Wikimedia. License here.
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