Centro Hospitalar de Leiria reactivates level III of the contingency plan due to Covid-19 – Society

The Leiria Hospital Center (CHL) reactivated level III of the contingency plan of the Intensive Care Service assigned to covid-19 and will contract with the Misericórdia of Marinha Grande the use of beds, it was announced today.

In a press release, the CHL informs that with the reactivation of level III, out of a scale of five, with effect since Monday, they are “activated with the possibility of occupying 15 beds of type III (10 in the Medical Service) And five in the Multipurpose Acute Care Unit – UCAP), and 15 level II beds in the UCAP “.

“The decision also includes activating the level of the Response Plan covid-19 – level I beds, with a distribution of 120 beds, located in the east tower of the Hospital de Santo André, in Leiria”, the note said.

Type III beds make it possible to receive and treat critically ill covid-19 patients, namely those who need invasive mechanical ventilation, while type II beds are suitable for intermediate health care and type I beds are those used in wards , explains the CHL.

The measures are justified “by the increased incidence of positive cases of covid-19”.

Quoted in the document, the chairman of the CHL board of directors, Licínio de Carvalho, clarifies that “the procedures and work instructions are continually being revised and adapted to each phase of the pandemic”, following the Contingency Plan of the hospital.

“CHL has been adjusting its structures and strategies to continue to provide all levels of care to the community it serves”, says Licínio de Carvalho.

In order to “face the growing context of the affluence of users”, it was also deliberate “to hire Santa Casa da Misericórdia da Marinha Grande to use level I beds, to allocate covid-19 patients without medical discharge from CHL, and that are managed by the Home Hospitalization Unit “.

The transport, medication and clinical surveillance of these patients, as well as the management of the discharge process, are ensured by CHL, while Misericórdia da Marinha Grande guarantees “the remaining care for the patients”.

“Due to the high number of hospitalized, ventilated and non-ventilated patients, and considering the increasing affluence to ADR-SU [Área Dedicada a Doentes com suspeita de infeção Respiratória nos Serviços de Urgência], with the possible increase in patients positive for covid-19 who need hospitalization, we decided to find an alternative in the social sector to free beds for the most critical patients “, justifies the chairman of the CHL board of directors, referring that that mercy” made available more than a dozen beds to care for covid-19 patients. “

CHL integrates the hospitals of Leiria, Pombal and Alcobaça.

According to its website, CHL’s “area of ​​influence is that corresponding to the municipalities of Batalha, Leiria, Marinha Grande, Porto de Mós, Nazaré, Pombal, Pedrógão Grande, Figueiró dos Vinhos, Castanheira de Pera, Ansião, Alvaiázere, Ourém and part of the municipalities of Alcobaça and Soure, serving a population of around 400,000 inhabitants “.

The covid-19 pandemic caused at least 1,945,437 deaths resulting from more than 90.8 million cases of infection worldwide, according to a report made by the French agency AFP.

In Portugal, 7,925 people died from 489,293 confirmed cases of infection, according to the most recent bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health.