"Overcrowded hospitals and funding cuts." Lviv doctor about the situation with covid
In the Lviv Regional Infectious Diseases Hospital, more patients with coronavirus infection are currently undergoing inpatient treatment than the availability of beds allows.
Deputy Director of the Lviv Regional Infectious Diseases Hospital Igor Bernik announced this during a visit to the hospital by Verkhovna Rada deputy, ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Our hospital was designed for 200 patients, but in recent weeks we have had 240-250 patients. Today – 232. We have 130 centralized supply points [of oxygen], the rest we provide through oxygen concentrators. This is already to the maximum - all buildings, all possible and impossible areas are involved. We have nowhere to expand,” Bernik said.
According to him, the actual costs of treating patients significantly exceed the funding that the hospital receives under the package to help infectious patients.
“We received funding in several packages. If it’s just inpatient care, without surgical situations, common to everyone, then it’s 4900 hryvnia for one treated case. Our treated infectious case (we are not talking about Covid) already costs between 12-16 thousand. If we talk about helping Covid patients, then the calculation was made on the teams. For one team – about 540 thousand hryvnia. In the summer we had 7 teams, there were no sick people, we paid for four teams,” the doctor noted.
He added that for next year there is no separate package of assistance for Covid patients.
“For 2022, the package provided for inpatient care against Covid has been removed. This year there was a package “Preparedness to respond to the spread of infectious diseases and epidemics.” This package is not provided for 2022; it has been replaced by another. By resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers dated November 2, the package “Preparedness to provide medical care during the spread of infectious diseases, epidemics and other emergencies” was approved, which included various emergency situations of man-made, natural nature, injury, and poisoning. That is, everything is in one package. The requirements that are needed to receive it - I don’t know which infectious diseases hospital will be able to fulfill them in order to receive help,” Bernik emphasized.
He also said that at the moment the average salary of health workers without additional payments for Covid is from 7 (nurse) to 10 (doctor) thousand hryvnia.
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