The Union of Hospital Directors sent a letter to Health Minister Yuli Edelstein and demanded additional beds be added to the departments of internal medicine, geriatric medicine, and Covid-19 wards in hospitals across the county. In the letter that they sent to the minister the directors wrote: “The vaccination campaign is very impressive, but it will take time until we know how effective it has been in lowering the morbidity rate and the number of ill people who are hospitalized.”
According to the directors, a similar letter that was sent in October was not answered. Yitzchak, whose father is hospitalized in Ma’ayanei HaYeshua Hospital in Bnei Brak told BerChadrei Charedim that the situation in the hospital is catastrophic. “My father has been hospitalized here for a while, relatively to other people. I have been following what has been happening in the hospital for quite some time. Every few hours another seriously ill person arrives at the hospital, and the hospital staff is collapsing.”
“At the beginning of my father’s hospitalization in the Covid-19 ward, there were only old people who were brought here. Now I see more and more young people being brought in. The news reports of young people seriously ill and deteriorating quickly due to the disease I am seeing with my very eyes. This is scary.”
Head of the Intensive Care Unit of Ma’ayanei Hayeshua Hospital Professor Eliyahu Sorkin said during an interview with Kol B’Ramah radio that the situation in the hospital is very severe. “We have closed our doors due to the high number of seriously ill patients, many of whom are young. During the first wave of the virus, the average age of those in serious condition was 68, now it is 40. Women who are pregnant are coming here in serious condition, they can’t breathe, and we have no choice but to deliver them early.”
President and Founder of United Hatzalah Eli Beer added: “We have gotten a lot of calls from women who are pregnant who have contracted the disease and are having complications. Over the last few days, we’ve transported six pregnant women to hospitals in different cities. The situation is very dire and everyone who can get vaccinated should do so immediately.”
Professor Zeev Rotstein who is the Director of Hadassah Hospital said in an interview on channel 103 radio that: “As of January we have gone dry. There are no more medications. We have a shortage of staff. We have no ability to treat those who are coming to the hospital without Corona. We are seeing very high morbidity rates, and the hospitals across the country are stretched to their breaking point.”
It should be noted that as of earlier this week, all hospitals in Jerusalem have closed their doors to accepting new Covid-19 patients and all patients from the greater Jerusalem area, including Judea and Samaria are being transported to hospitals in the center of the country.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
A close relative of mine needed hospitalisation for Corona and they called 3 hospitals, all declined to take him as they were full so they went to Hospital no 4 who said they still had space, but when they arrived that hospital also asked them why are coming here, we are full but in the end the found the very last bed for him.
That’s the sad situation in Israel at the moment. Please continue to daven that the מגפה should end.