Cargando…
Assessment of Referrals and Hospitalizations in the Hospital Transformed into COVID-19 Facility in Poland during the “Spring Wave” of the Epidemic in 2020—A Cross-Sectional Study
The study aimed to evaluate hospitalizations in a COVID-dedicated facility during the “spring wave” of the epidemic in 2020 in Poland and analyze changes in access to hospital treatment in the country in the early phase of the pandemic. We investigated all referrals and admissions to the Ministry of...
Autores principales: | , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8295743/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34281079 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18137143 |
_version_ | 1783725497262276608 |
---|---|
author | Kasiukiewicz, Agnieszka Wojszel, Zyta Beata |
author_facet | Kasiukiewicz, Agnieszka Wojszel, Zyta Beata |
author_sort | Kasiukiewicz, Agnieszka |
collection | PubMed |
description | The study aimed to evaluate hospitalizations in a COVID-dedicated facility during the “spring wave” of the epidemic in 2020 in Poland and analyze changes in access to hospital treatment in the country in the early phase of the pandemic. We investigated all referrals and admissions to the Ministry of Interior and Administration hospital in Białystok from 14 April to 14 August 2020. A total of 238 patients were referred to the hospital (with a median age of 64.5 years; IQR, 44–78), most commonly with fever (n = 151; 63.5%). Only 135 (56.7%) were admitted (5.5% of the number hospitalized in the same period in 2019). SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed in 42 (17.7%) cases. Older people with concomitant diseases and disabilities dominated. Seventeen patients (12.6%) required ICU treatment, and 19 (14%) died. Based on the National Health Fund data, we also examined changes in the rate of hospitalizations in Poland and in selected Polish COVID/ and non-COVID hospitals between February and August 2019 and 2020. The number of hospitalizations in Poland decreased dramatically in comparison to 2019. A very low hospitalization rate, significantly lower than in structurally similar non-COVID hospitals, was observed in transformed hospitals. Better use of hospital resources was observed when the hospital was semi-transformed and had the flexibility to adapt to epidemiological needs. The study seems to confirm that the system of transformed COVID hospitals resulted in unused healthcare resources and limited patient access to medical services in the early period of the epidemic. As a consequence, systemic modifications allowing the maximization and adequate use of the Polish healthcare system’s limited resources have been implemented. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8295743 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-82957432021-07-23 Assessment of Referrals and Hospitalizations in the Hospital Transformed into COVID-19 Facility in Poland during the “Spring Wave” of the Epidemic in 2020—A Cross-Sectional Study Kasiukiewicz, Agnieszka Wojszel, Zyta Beata Int J Environ Res Public Health Article The study aimed to evaluate hospitalizations in a COVID-dedicated facility during the “spring wave” of the epidemic in 2020 in Poland and analyze changes in access to hospital treatment in the country in the early phase of the pandemic. We investigated all referrals and admissions to the Ministry of Interior and Administration hospital in Białystok from 14 April to 14 August 2020. A total of 238 patients were referred to the hospital (with a median age of 64.5 years; IQR, 44–78), most commonly with fever (n = 151; 63.5%). Only 135 (56.7%) were admitted (5.5% of the number hospitalized in the same period in 2019). SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed in 42 (17.7%) cases. Older people with concomitant diseases and disabilities dominated. Seventeen patients (12.6%) required ICU treatment, and 19 (14%) died. Based on the National Health Fund data, we also examined changes in the rate of hospitalizations in Poland and in selected Polish COVID/ and non-COVID hospitals between February and August 2019 and 2020. The number of hospitalizations in Poland decreased dramatically in comparison to 2019. A very low hospitalization rate, significantly lower than in structurally similar non-COVID hospitals, was observed in transformed hospitals. Better use of hospital resources was observed when the hospital was semi-transformed and had the flexibility to adapt to epidemiological needs. The study seems to confirm that the system of transformed COVID hospitals resulted in unused healthcare resources and limited patient access to medical services in the early period of the epidemic. As a consequence, systemic modifications allowing the maximization and adequate use of the Polish healthcare system’s limited resources have been implemented. MDPI 2021-07-03 /pmc/articles/PMC8295743/ /pubmed/34281079 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18137143 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Kasiukiewicz, Agnieszka Wojszel, Zyta Beata Assessment of Referrals and Hospitalizations in the Hospital Transformed into COVID-19 Facility in Poland during the “Spring Wave” of the Epidemic in 2020—A Cross-Sectional Study |
title | Assessment of Referrals and Hospitalizations in the Hospital Transformed into COVID-19 Facility in Poland during the “Spring Wave” of the Epidemic in 2020—A Cross-Sectional Study |
title_full | Assessment of Referrals and Hospitalizations in the Hospital Transformed into COVID-19 Facility in Poland during the “Spring Wave” of the Epidemic in 2020—A Cross-Sectional Study |
title_fullStr | Assessment of Referrals and Hospitalizations in the Hospital Transformed into COVID-19 Facility in Poland during the “Spring Wave” of the Epidemic in 2020—A Cross-Sectional Study |
title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of Referrals and Hospitalizations in the Hospital Transformed into COVID-19 Facility in Poland during the “Spring Wave” of the Epidemic in 2020—A Cross-Sectional Study |
title_short | Assessment of Referrals and Hospitalizations in the Hospital Transformed into COVID-19 Facility in Poland during the “Spring Wave” of the Epidemic in 2020—A Cross-Sectional Study |
title_sort | assessment of referrals and hospitalizations in the hospital transformed into covid-19 facility in poland during the “spring wave” of the epidemic in 2020—a cross-sectional study |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8295743/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34281079 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18137143 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT kasiukiewiczagnieszka assessmentofreferralsandhospitalizationsinthehospitaltransformedintocovid19facilityinpolandduringthespringwaveoftheepidemicin2020acrosssectionalstudy AT wojszelzytabeata assessmentofreferralsandhospitalizationsinthehospitaltransformedintocovid19facilityinpolandduringthespringwaveoftheepidemicin2020acrosssectionalstudy |