UEHP  
  Friday, 27th March 2020  
 
United against COVID-19
The COVID-19 tsunami has taken over the news. Medical Doctors across the world are pushing to save affected patients and to contain the pandemic using new therapeutics. At the same time, UEHP member hospitals are 100% engaged in this fight, using all relevant means to face the disease and offer the best solution for all European patients.
In this Newsletter, we are presenting various situations of private and public hospital coordination implemented in EU Members States and examples of solidarity across borders as we recently observed between Alsace and Baden-Württemberg regions.
As a Medical Doctor I must say that I truly admire, the engagement of all the workforce dedicated to care. We had forgotten what pandemic meant and a new “black plague” is engulfing our continent. We will later draw lessons from the COVID-19 crisis, but for now we must fight!
Despite these turbulent times, we could not ignore our previous engagement dedicated to gender equality. We are very proud in this March edition to reiterate our commitment to this major cause. You will find in this newsletter the interview of two European Health Ministers, Marta Temido (Portugal) and Maggie De Block (Belgium) as well as our poster featuring our women colleagues as top managers in Private Hospitals.
Be safe, stay home! And I hope we will be altogether very soon.
Dr Paul Garassus
President of UEHP
 
       
 
LATEST NEWS
European Hospitals on the frontline of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic
Dr Paul Garassus, Neurologist and President of UEHP
UEHP member hospitals have been reporting the severity of the disease in Europe.
As many other European organizations, UEHP has been closely following and monitoring the evolution of the coronavirus in Europe.
UEHP member hospitals have been reporting the severity of the disease in Europe. Italy is the most-affected European country, but the outbreak has been rapidly spreading in all Member States. Spain and France are struggling to curb the spread of the pandemic, as both countries also had to adapt life under coronavirus lockdown.
But WE ARE AT WORK! European Private Hospitals, solicited by their national government, are fully engaged in the fight against the coronavirus, determined to save lives. ICU beds were made available, all non-urgent procedures have been cancelled to make space to the surge of coronavirus patients. A coordinated response is essential.
We find ourselves in an unprecedented situation, but we must now rise to the task. All UEHP member hospitals are present and engaged!
Dr Paul Garassus
President of the European Union of Private Hospitals (UEHP)
 
Managing private healthcare in a time of crisis
Paolo Silvano, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Resources and Transformation, ELSAN group and UEHP Board Member
"These are terrible times, since all our healthcare systems are confronted to a crisis no one had seen before. As an Italian working in France, as one of the top managers of ELSAN, second largest private healthcare group in France, my daily challenge is to make sure that our 100+ private hospitals, spread all across France, receive all the guidance and the assistance they need to perform their fastly evolving role in taking care of COVID and non-COVID patients; but at the same time, I keep myself informed daily on the situation in Italy, the hardes hit country so far, because what happens there is a helpful vision of things to come here.
Just yesterday I have organized a very intense exchange of views and experiences between a group of physicians of our Group and 4 Italian doctors of Humanitas Hospital in Milan, who are at the forefront of the Italian dramatic situation. Everyone was happy to exchange tips, experiences and suggestions, do's and don'ts, and becoming more and more aware of the staggering task ahead.
What keeps me motivated every day, glued for long hours to my phone and my computer that allow me, like all of us, to communicate, act, lead, make decisions, is the awareness of our moral obligation to try to be there for all our fellow human beings that might be in need of urgent care. The fact of being COVID+ myself since 10 days, although luckily in a rather light form, makes me feel a particular proximity with all our patients, and makes me hope to contribute, in an indirect way, to their recovery.
Certainly this terrible ordeal will make us eventually stronger and wiser, it will help us to better understand how we should better prepare for occurrences like this one, at the individual, hospital, company, government and healthcare system levels. My impression is also that at times like this, the European ideal becomes more concrete and visible, real (we were able to transfer patients from Eastern France to Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland, Germany has sent aids and material to hospitals in Italy, …) and there is hope that COVID 19, deadly as it is, will oblige us all to better understand the strength that lies in our common European bonds.
I wish you all to stay safe, healthy, and to spend your time for the common good"
Paolo Silvano, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Resources and Transformation, ELSAN group and UEHP Board Member
 
EUROPEAN PRIVATE HOSPITALS
The current COVID-19 pandemic has now spread to all Member States and the situation is evolving rapidly. The heavy burden imposed by the COVID-19 crisis on societies and health systems has already taught us that providers must work and respond together. Cooperation between providers, public or private, and national authorities is crucial.
Healthcare systems are under severe strain and private hospitals are fully engaged in this fight and, together with all health professionals, doctors and nurses, they try their best to respond to and mitigate the spread of the pandemic.
Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, called the situation in Europe a "socioeconomic tsunami" and said no country would go untouched by the virus which is progressively taking over Europe. The cooperation and coordination of all actors is the only solution to face this threat, caring for the patients and reducing consequences for the population.
We have also observed the implementation of regional solutions which often are better suited than national ones, especially when distinct regions are affected. If we look at the progressive spread of the disease, we notice that its evolution among the population is marked by contamination hot spots with local impact first.
The collaborative approach varies depending on the Member State but the need of cooperation and of a coordinated response is a necessity recognized by all and UEHP member hospitals are fully involved and devoted to this fight.
As a last remark, I would like to point out that nobody was prepared to face this pandemic which will change the world, will change “our” world. We are learning from this experience and will certainly draw lessons from the COVID-19 crisis but, for now, let´s get to work together!
AUSTRIA
Until now, private hospitals, in Austria, have officially been encouraged by the government to cancel elective procedures and to provide services when needed. The government has issued a decree to avoid elective operations and to reduce the number of scheduled operations. By March 20, private acute care clinics have closed down their services. As ordered by the Ministry of Health, visits are prohibited in all facilities Nursing facilities are open, and a ban on visits also applies. In addition, there is a screening of the employees before entering the facility. Selected private clinics (especially rehab clinics that have been closed to regular operations since the end of last week) will now be available to support the public area.
FRANCE
In France, hospitals and private clinics are mobilized, throughout the country, alongside other health actors acting accordingly to the framework of the strategy defined at national level by the Ministry of Health and by the Regional Health Agencies (ARS) at local level. The President of the French Federation of Private Hospitals Lamine Gharbi deplored at the beginning of the crisis the lack of coordination between health authorities, public and private hospitals in some territories and the shortcomings as regard to the use of private resources and bed capacities made available. The Prime Minister lately mentioned the good cooperation and work of public and private hospitals. "In public and private hospitals, carers are fighting in the frontline without sparing their efforts; they are hard at work and we are indebted to them and to all those who continue to work in contact of people. They deserve our respect".
Private Hospitals in France have cancelled last week more than 100,000 non-emergency procedures and mobilized 4,000 intensive care beds across the country in order to treat patients infected by COVID-19. 1,000 private hospitals and clinics are fully mobilized.
Hospitals and private clinics will also be able to take over non-emergency procedures that were deprogrammed in first- and second-line establishments. Private follow-up establishments have also be enorganized to receive patients as soon as possible downstream from their stay in acute care, which will further facilitate the management of first- and second-line hospital beds.
Private healthcare institutions will receive financial support during this period of crisis. The National Health Insurance agreed to adopt the principle of a cash advance based on one-twelfth of the amounts invoiced to the health insurance company in 2019. This advance will then be paid monthly on the 10th of each month during the time of the health crisis.
GERMANY
Private hospitals in Germany have the same care mandate as public/communal and non-profit/religious hospitals. In this respect, all hospitals deal with the same challenges during the corona pandemic.
Germany is trying to double the existing 28,000 Intensive Care Units beds within short notice and make available a maximum of beds for the treatment of COVID-19. This has been decided by agreement of Mrs. Merkel and the Prime Ministers of the regions. All the hospitals – public, private, non profit/religious - are obliged to cancel or postpone all non-urgent activity, only emergency cases may be admitted. COVID-19 patients are first admitted to hospitals that have wards for internal medicine and ICU´s. In Germany there is a significant number of private hospitals who run ICUs. The government is preparing to provide the necessary equipment and hospitals which provide provisional ICUs at short notice are entitled for a financial bonus.
In return the federal government of Germany will make sure that all hospitals will be settled by the social security and no hospital will suffer deficits because of the measures to be taken. A first draft for the financing of hospitals presented by the Federal Ministry of Health was not satisfactory, followed by a second approved by the cabinet on 23 March. Remains the fate of preventive and rehabilitation clinics - mostly privately run and also paid by the statutory pension insurance - and their financial support. The Ministry of Work and Social Affairs had presented a draft that did not preview any financial compensation at all for rehabilitation clinics and hospitals in the frame of the public health insurance. The Federal Association of Private Hospitals (BDPK) sharply criticized this. In this pandemic time, prevention and rehabilitation facilities are available to welcome patients and relieve the hospitals, offering a potential of 167,000 additional places for the treatment of (corona) patients.
The hospitals are also currently preparing for the pandemic in terms of personnel. Staff are being trained to work in intensive care and respiratory care units. Medical students as well as retired doctors and nurses can be deployed as additional personnel. Hospitals also optimise the storage of all protective equipment and medicines. The Federal Ministry of Health organize purchasing and distribution centrally.
Cross border cooperation: The regional government of Baden-Württemberg has received a plea for help from the French authorities to help out with IC Units to treat patients from Alsace and they said they would do so. 
GREECE
The Greek Association of Private Hospitals is in regular contact with the Minister of Health and 100 ICU beds have been made available to the Ministry.
The government has announced that private clinics would be «activated» if needed. Any COVID-19 patient is at fist directed to a public hospital but private clinics remain ready to respond. Besides, there is a shortage of PPE and of blood in hospitals.
Private hospitals face financial problems because all-non urgent procedures and surgeries have been postponed or cancelled. The government did not include the private sector into the financial support package adopted for the healthcare sector. The Panhellenic Union of Private Hospitals is asking the government for the postponement of current financial obligations, a financial help to pay the wages and interest-free loans.
IRELAND
Last Tuesday, 24 March, the Irish Health Minister, Mr Simon Harris, said that “For the duration of this crisis, the state will take control of all private hospital facilities and manage all of the resources for the common benefit of all of our people” . He also added that “There can’t be no room for public versus private when it comes to pandemic”. By so doing, and for the first time, the Irish government takes full control of the whole private sector in Ireland.
More information here
ITALY
AIOP Emiglia-Romana – Regional level
The Region of Emilia-Romagna has signed an agreement with Italian Association of Private Hospitals of the region (AIOP- Emilia-Romagna) in the fight against the coronavirus. 740 beds have already been made available in private facilities, including 8 in intensive care, throughout regional territory. This number will increase in the coming weeks and will reach 3,750 beds overall, 95 of which reserved for intensive care.
Under the agreement, the beds made available by private facilities concern COVID patients, including those recovering after the acute phase but not discharged, and non-COVID patients who can be transferred here.
A further element of the agreement concerns the staff, to facilitate their use in the most useful and effective possible way. Private structures will endeavour to encourage, upon request from public ones, the posting of their own medical and nursing staff, on the basis of the needs that the Region and the Healthcare companies will express according to the emergency, without naturally compromising the managerial balance of the structures. For the entire duration of the emergency, the rules relating to the incompatibility of the public / private service are suspended. 
AIOP – National level
In Italy, the entire network of private hospitals continues to guarantee its contribution to addressing the COVID-19 emergency. Right from the start, AIOP started a continuous dialogue with the Ministry of Health and with all the regional Governments responsible for emergency management, to frame and regulate the commitment and contribution of the private sector who has made available to the Government and to the individual Regions about 1,300 beds which correspond to 16% of the overall network of intensive care beds of the Italian national health system and about 40,000 beds for acute care, equal to 22% of acute beds in the national territory, to decongest the influx and management of these patients who are unable to find assistance in public establishments.
Many of private healthcare facilities have completely changed their organization to operate in synergy with public hospitals, caring for infected or non-infected patients. Only by making a common front, in the interest of the National Health Service, will Italy be able to effectively fight the epidemic, and guarantee the citizens' right to health.
POLAND
Poland is still at an early stage of the coronavirus outbreak. For now, the government has organized a network of hospitals. The private sector is at the moment working normally and getting ready if necessary. Non urgent and planned procedures are being cancelled and some private facilities have reduced their number of employees to the necessary minimum taking into account the number of services rendered.
PORTUGAL
In Portugal, private hospitals have postponed consultations and non-urgent surgeries to prepare for COVID-19 (-60% of activity) and there has been collaboration between public and private hospitals. The Ministry of Health has been in constant dialogue with the Portuguese Association of Private Hospitals (APHP). Early on, only a few public hospitals were referral hospitals for COVID-19 but now all public and private hospitals are treating infected patients. APHP is in contact with the Ministry of Health in order to establish the rules for this exceptional moment.
Apart from COVID-19 private hospitals have also shown willingness to relieve public hospitals, taking over other procedures, such as emergency episodes, haemodialysis, general surgery, long-term care, etc.
We are now on State of Emergency in Portugal and the most important thing is collaboration and articulation of all health system.
"One of the conclusions that we can already draw from this process is that Europe has to be more concerned with health, so the EU will be able to review the competences and the way the sector and markets (pharmaceutical, medical devices, etc.) should be addressed. We will overcome this serious crisis together and united" said Oscar Gaspar, president of the Portuguese Association Private Hospitals.
SPAIN
In Spain, the collaboration between the public and private health sector in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic puts into practice a unique health model.
The 806 hospitals of the National Health System and the 468 private hospital centres with more than 143,300 beds made available to the Ministry of Health in the fight against the pandemic are preparing for the surge of the disease. Private hospitals are treating at moment about 20% of patients admitted for coronavirus.
266,728 professionals from private hospitals have joined the joint action against the pandemic
SWITZERLAND
The public/private collaboration in this Corona pandemic time is total and the cantons are relying heavily on the offer of private clinics to cope with the expected influx of patients, especially those among us who have intensive care. The Swiss Association of Private Clinics (Cliniques Privées Suisse) has also written to the Federal Council (Alain Berset) and to the Conference of Cantonal Health Directors to offer its collaboration.
Most of the healthcare establishments have seen a temporary drop of activity due to the postponement of non-urgent operations, with a few exceptions for acute care or rehabilitation establishments that welcomed additional patients from other hospitals that concentrated on COVID-19 cases.
There is also a shortage of protective equipment (mask, single-use gowns, disinfectant, etc.) and some cantons have delegated responsibility for distribution to the cantonal physician. This distribution is carried out on an as-needed and non-discriminatory basis.
UK
The entire capacity of the private hospital sector in England will be used to treat coronavirus patients and take on work the NHS is too overwhelmed to carry out, under a deal announced by the government on Saturday.
As the taxpayer-funded health service braces for hundreds of thousands of extra patients, the agreement will provide nearly 20,000 extra staff to help manage the surge in cases, NHS England said.
The arrangement, which in effect puts the whole private hospital sector under contract to the government, will start on Monday March 23rd.
It came as the UK death toll from the virus rose to 233 on Saturday, while the number of confirmed infections reached 5,018.
Under the terms of the agreement, private hospitals will not make a profit, undertaking the work at cost.
The deal, the first of its kind, will provide 8,000 more hospital beds across England, nearly 1,200 more ventilators, more than 10,000 nurses, over 700 doctors and over 8,000 other clinical staff.
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
The European Commission has set up an advisory panel on COVID-19 made of epidemiologists and virologists from different EU countries who will advise on coordinated risk management measures. The panel will be chaired by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and co-chaired by Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides. Its mission runs for six months.
Its members are:
  • Arnaud Fontanet, epidemiologist at the Institut Pasteur, France;
  • Christian Drosten, epidemiologist at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin;
  • Kåre Mølbak, Professional Director of Infection Preparedness at the Danish Serum Institute;
  • Lothar Wieler, President of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute;
  • Maria Rosaria Capobianchi, Director of the Virology Laboratory at Italy’s National Institute for Infectious Diseases;
  • Marion Koopmans, Head of the Viroscience Department of the Erasmus University Hospital in Rotterdam;
  • Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicines, who is credited with having co-discovered the Ebola virus in 1976, while working at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the European Medicines Agency and the Emergency Response Coordination Centre will participate as observers.
The new group is supposed to complement the ECDC and is expected to “play an important role in the EU’s medical response to the pandemic,” Kyriakides said.
The panel will draw up response measures for countries depending on the different stages of the pandemic across the EU. It’s also supposed to identify and respond to “significant gaps, inconsistencies or inadequacies in measures taken or to be taken to contain and manage the spread of COVID-19, including in clinical management and treatment, and overcome its impact,” the Commission said.
In addition, the panelists will advise EU countries on how to prioritize health care, civil protection and other resources amid the outbreak. Finally, they should also recommend policies to address and mitigate the long-term effects of the disease.
The panel will meet at least twice a week through videoconferencing.
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
On March 10, during the plenary session of the European Parliament (held exceptionally in Brussels and not in Strasbourg due to the COVID-19 spread), the President fo the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, presented a first set of measures for a coordinated response at EU level. The European Commission will bring forward a Corona Response Investment Fund of € 25billion to help healthcare systems, SMEs and labour markets most affected by the COVID-19.
In order to quickly direct €25 billion of European public investment to deal with the fallout of the Coronavirus crisis, the Commission will propose to relinquish this year its obligation to request refunding of unspent pre-financing for European structural and investment funds currently held by Member States.
The Member States will be required to use these amounts to speed up their investments under the structural funds. They will use this for the national co-financing they would normally have had to provide themselves in order to receive the next tranches of their structural fund envelopes. In view of the average co-financing rates across Member States, the €7.5 billion will be able to trigger the release and use of some €17.5 - €18 billion of structural funding across the EU.
More at: here
Also, the European Commission has set up a Coronavirus response team, composed by five commissioners who coordinate the work on all strands. The website is constantly updated with figures coming from all over the world, as well as with the latest actions taken at EU level. Have a look here
 
       
 
GENDER EQUALITY
UEHP supports Gender Equality
Interview to Maggie De Block, Health Minister, Belgium
Given your achievements, was gender equality ever an issue?
I was never bothered by being a woman. A family, children and professional ambitions: I chose to combine it all.
I did not reason or plan differently just because I am a woman. That never made a difference to me. If I had been a man, I would have done the same. My mother dreamt that I would become a perfect housewife, but that is clearly not the case. I would like to say to all young women: just do it.
Which actions and initiatives would you like to see implemented to foster professional and personal development of female healthcare professionals? 
Belgium has quite a long tradition of policy measures in health care to facilitate the combination of work and family life and to encourage health professionals to keep working during later stages of their career. We need to keep safeguarding the work-life balance for both women and men.  
We should not let the role of men in this issue get out of sight. It doesn't always have to be the man who makes a career. A better work-life balance for men is beneficial to women that want to realize their ambitions and pursue their dreams as well.
How do you see the role of the private hospital sector in your Country?
This question is difficult to answer as Belgium is special in this respect: our country has a long-standing tradition of private hospitals. However, all of them are nonprofit organizations. At this moment, there is not a single hospital that operates as a commercial organization. This does not mean that commercial hospitals are not allowed, but given the planning policy of the federal government, there is no room for additional hospitals to enter the market.  
In order to guarantee the quality of healthcare in every hospital, a general framework applies in Belgium. These conditions apply universally to practitioners, not to facilities such as hospitals.
The essence is that hospitals will work more together in networks to give patients the best care. Whether these are public or private hospitals is not important. The question is whether a hospital is prepared to subordinate its own interests to those of the patient.  
The future lies in cooperation, a good division of tasks, sensible investment, and so on. Hospitals no longer see each other as competitors that compete to get as many patients as possible, but as partners that look together at how they can organize patient care in the best possible, most sustainable way.
Interview to Marta Temido, Health Minister, Portugal
Given your achievements, was gender equality ever an issue?
I cannot say that the fact of being a woman has ever interfered with my professional or academic life.
Which actions and initiatives would you like to see implemented to foster professional and personal development of female healthcare professionals? 
In 2018, the Portuguese Government approved the Three in Line Program, a program that aims to promote a greater balance between professional, personal and family life, as a condition for effective equality between men and women, for a full citizenship and allowing for free choice in all areas of life.  
The importance of this balance is recognized in the European Pillar of Social Rights as one of the fair working conditions. Improving work-life balance favours the reduction of absenteeism, the increase in productivity and the retention of talent, contributing also to demographic sustainability.
It is a cultural change that requires calling on the whole of society and making a collective commitment with impact assessments in the short, medium and long term.
This program therefore represents a joint effort by the Government, by public and private companies, and by entities from central and local Public Administration.
Should health systems pay special / specific attention to women?
Yes, and the Portuguese National Health Service does just that, be it in the area of Gynaecology / Obstetrics, for the health gains it represents for women and their children, or, for example, in breast cancer screenings, the relevance of which in preventing that disease is undeniable.  
How do you see the role of the private hospital sector in your country?
According to the provisions of the Basic Law on Health, the State's responsibility in providing universal right to health care, is carried out primarily by the NHS and other public services. Nonetheless, on a supplementary and temporary basis, agreements may be signed with social and private entities. The Portuguese Health System will continue to ensure a public response of high technical and professional quality, but the country also has good coverage and response from the private health sector.  
International Women's Day 2020: Women top managers working in private hospitals in Europe
For the International Women’s Day 2020, and following the success of the 2019 edition, UEHP launches its second photo campaign, proudly presenting the women top managers working in private hospitals all around Europe.
In a traditionally male-dominated sector, the strong presence and collaborative attitude of women top managers is a added value to the healthcare workforce and to our common patient.
Thank you to our members and the managers all around Europe who engaged in this important UEHP initiative to support gender equality and women empowerment in the medical profession.
Download the photo campaign here
MEMBER'S CORNER
ITALY
“In order to face the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gruppo San Donato was at the forefront in immediate and close collaboration with the public authorities by opening new beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients in all the GSD’s Hospitals: The 18th of March 2020, GSD had 1,304 patients currently hospitalised, meaning that 1 bed out of 4 of GSD’s total beds is dedicated to COVID-19 patients, representing almost 20% of all COVID-19 patients in the Lombardy Region. 156 patients are hospitalized under respiratory assistance (CPAP) and 126 others are in Intensive Care, under constant monitoring or intubation.
GSD also provided since the 29th of February a task force composed of 5 intensivist doctors and one medical coordinator from the San Raffaele Hospital, reinforced the 2nd of March by 14 more intensives doctors from all GSD structures leading to a total of 19 intensivist doctors and a medical coordinator sent to the 24/7 ICU’s of the public hospitals in the Red Areas.
Following the closure of all the non-urgent clinical and surgical activity in the Region, Lombardy established a specialised hub system to face the COVID-19 crisis, making those Hubs the only hospitals habilitated to perform urgent clinical and surgical activities and towards which all patients converge once their state is stabilised in normal hospitals. In that context the 3 main Hospitals of the GSD were designated Hubs by the public authorities: the IRCCS Policlinico San Donato for Paediatric Cardiac Surgery and Electrophysiology, Cardiac Surgery for Adults and Interventional Cardiology for IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele as well as minor traumas for IRCCS Galeazzi.
The Lombardy Region has also promised to pay the healthcare operators the 2019 budget in 2020 as a global allocation and continues to pay for the normal activity which represents a shift from the DRG model.
To open new beds GSD must face the challenge of the lack of available Healthcare personnel and the fact that the current staff is getting sick in contact of COVID-19 patients, especially on the most critical front zones, Bergamo and Brescia. GSD is therefore recruiting nurses, nursing assistants and doctors in South Italy and Eastern Europe, according to the 17/03 decree allowing to employ non-Italian personnel to face the emergency and we are also studying bonuses for the Healthcare personnel in contact with the COVID-19 patients.
It was these constant efforts and the heroism of the doctors, nurses and GSD health personnel who kept us one step ahead of the virus and made it possible for 124 patients to be discharged from hospital to return to their homes, fully recovered."
GSD Crisis Management Team
SWITZERLAND
The University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG), the Association of Private Clinics of Geneva (Geneva-Cliniques) and the Geneva Emergency Network (RUG) have joined forces to enable the canton to adapt the acute care offer in line with the development of the epidemic. Read the article : here
In the wake of the coronavirus crisis, the canton of Fribourg can dispose of the personnel, material and infrastructure of private clinics - and distribute the resources.
Read the article : here
FRANCE - SOUTH-EAST REGION
Last Sunday (22.03.20), 3 COVID patients were admitted to private resuscitation units in our region (PACA). The number of infected people has doubled last weekend in the South East of France.
The coordination between all stakeholders is working: conference calls between national and regional hospital federations and the health agency (ARS). 9 private establishments in region PACA have an emergency and a resuscitation unit. "They have transformed their intensive care units into resuscitation units. In addition, their surgical activity has completely stopped and each operating room is equipped with a respirator. This reorganization makes it possible to double the resuscitation capacities of the private sector," explains Jean-Louis Maurizi, President of the Regional Office of the French Federation of Private Hospitals.
"Maternity wards and dialysis departments are organizing themselves to have separate channels to protect their patients. In addition, since Wednesday, private rehab facilities have been required to organize beds for patients coming from acute care. Our big problem at the moment is the delivery of masks, which should arrive today or tomorrow, and which should be renewed every week, FFP2s for resuscitation and emergency and surgical masks for the other departments. The health agency is doing what it can, but the means granted by the State do not meet the needs."
 
 
AGENDA
 
       
 
26 June
Brussels
Brussels, UEHP Council Meeting
2 October
Salzburg
VPKA Annual Congress & UEHP Council Meeting