An unusual and unusual load was registered today (Sunday) at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, and especially in the emergency department (emergency medicine department - emergency department) and in the six internal departments.
Already in the early morning, no less than 23 patients were delayed in the emergency room, because they had no available hospital beds in the various departments.
As the day progressed, the dimensions of the phenomenon became clear, and more and more patients piled up in the emergency room. At lunchtime, in just one hour, 30 patients entered the emergency room, an amount considered a record in such a short period of time.
difficult plays.
Galilee Medical Center, March 5, 2023, photo: Roni Albert
At the same time, 200 percent occupancy was recorded in the emergency room (110 patients, when the standard of beds in the entire medical center is only 54).
"I've been working in the emergency room for 22 years and I don't remember such a scene," says Dina Prover, the nurse in charge of the emergency room.
"We opened the morning with 23 detainees, which is an amount that the mind is unable to grasp. On average, each nursing staff member treated at least 10-12 patients at the same time today. This is an inhumane situation, we are collapsing."
The director of the emergency room, Dr. Khaled Atallah: "This is a very challenging and complex situation, which we face not only today, but almost throughout the current winter season and every year.
It seems that this year the situation is even worse compared to the past.
It is important for me to emphasize that all patients delayed in the emergency room receive professional and dedicated care from the various teams."
And in the six internal wards, abnormal loads of 150 percent occupancy on average were recorded today.
The "peak" of the load in the internal wards in particular and in the medical center in general is Internal Ward D, under the management of Dr. Boris Sabirsky, with 55 patients (bed standard: 34). This is about 170 percent occupancy.
Due to the unusual occupancy rates, the internal ward had to add a fourth bed in each of the rooms, which naturally resulted in much greater density in each of the inpatient rooms, with a very small distance between one bed and another.
Congestion in the internal departments as well, photo: Roni Albert
In addition, the department's dining room was converted into a large inpatient room, and from time to time it was possible to see a patient who had to lie on a hospital bed in the department's corridor.
It should be noted that all six internal departments are at more than 100 percent occupancy, most of them over 130 percent.
Nona Rubinov, internal charge nurse D: "These are difficult scenes that keep me awake. I don't have a clear explanation for the reason for the unusual load. I assume it has to do with the winter sickness, the fact that we are in a transition season and of course with ongoing and additional sickness, such as the fact that the hospital is a center Regional trauma, where trauma victims come from all over the north (shot and stab wounds, falls from a height, car accidents and more).
I have been a nurse in charge of the ward for 17 years, and except for one or two similar cases from the distant past, I have difficulty remembering such an unusual situation."
The director of the medical center, Prof. Masad Barhoum, wanted to praise the medical and nursing teams, who according to him are doing sacred work under particularly complex conditions, and asked the patients to be patient and consider the many challenges facing the teams.
Prof. Barhoum: "For years I have been warning about a lack of standards and personnel in our medical center in particular and in the suburbs in general, as well as a severe lack of hospital bed standards, especially intensive care beds. It must be remembered that our medical center is the largest hospital in the Galilee, the only in the Western Galilee and one of the two largest government hospitals north of Tel Aviv.
This is the reason why I, as the director of the medical center, do not have the privilege of closing the emergency room to new patients.
Those who come to us will receive the most professional, humane and dedicated care, despite the challenging situation."
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