Hospital beds in southern areas will be made available after hospitals in northern Taiwan asked to divert patients, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said at a national COVID-19 pandemic prevention meeting yesterday.
National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) superintendent Wu Ming-shiang (吳明賢) on Wednesday wrote on Facebook that the hospital had no more room for inpatients after an influx of more than 100, including 20 who were severely ill.
Despite telling the Taipei Fire Department that it had no more beds, people are still being wheeled into its emergency room with the expectation that they would be admitted to an intensive care unit, Wu said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The CECC must come up with a comprehensive plan that would improve distribution of patients to facilities where they could receive care, he said.
The Taipei City Hospital Labor Union on Tuesday wrote on Facebook that medical personnel are increasingly worried about the possibility that the nation’s medical system would be paralyzed amid an influx of patients.
While the central and local governments have insisted that they are developing a solution, they are moving too slowly as pressure mounts on hospitals, the union said, adding that officials must swiftly provide a solution or begin diverting patients.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is deputy head of the CECC, told a news conference yesterday that the CECC is working to redistribute patients and balance intake at hospitals in Taipei and New Taipei City.
If hospitals in the two municipalities run out of beds, the CECC will consider sending patients to central Taiwan, Chen said.
Medical facilities nationwide have expressed willingness to work together with the CECC to alleviate pressure on hospitals in northern Taiwan, he said.
At a separate news conference in the afternoon, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said that NTUH is treating patients and he believes Wu’s concerns were mainly that the government would send every COVID-19 patient to a single facility.
NTUH and Taipei City Hospital’s Heping branch have been prioritized for patient transfer due to their proximity to COVID-19 hot spots, Chen Shih-chung said, adding that they will be diverted to other hospitals as well.
Asked about CECC policies for frontline medical personnel, Chen Shih-chung said that it is working to increase vaccinations among them.
The nation needs to maintain solidarity during the pandemic, he said.
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