There has never been so much growth in the number of intensive care beds, they highlight

In 2020, the number of ICU beds doubled. Photo MSPBS

Asunción, IP Agency.- “This growth has never occurred before in the Ministry of Health, there was always a deficit in the number of beds but also the number of personnel,” said the director of Intensive Care of the Ministry of Health, Leticia Pintos, this Monday. The health system increased from 308 to 509 beds this year.

In order to confront the new coronavirus, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare planned several actions, including increasing the number of beds in the Intensive Care Unit, which increased by 201 beds during the pandemic; Likewise, more wide-range equipment and medical supplies were acquired and received as donations.

The director of Intensive Care of the Ministry of Health explained that at the beginning of the year there were 308 beds in the ICUs, and to date there are 509 beds. For this, small services were strengthened, increasing them. They were also enabled in cities where there was previously no therapy.

“There was an increase of 201 more beds, in principle, and the small services in the interior of the country were expanded and strengthened, since there were only 2 or 3 beds and they were expanded to 8, which is the number of patients that a hospital can care for. therapeutic doctor,” he noted.

In conversation with Radio Nacional del Paraguay, he indicated that of the 509 ICU beds nationwide, both for adults, pediatrics and neonatal, there is an occupancy of 77%, most of them are due to respiratory conditions, whether Covid-19 positive or not.

“It is a huge job to be able to increase the beds because it depends on the staff in white; in some hospitals, building renovations were carried out to adapt all the therapy services,” he alleged.

He highlighted that the main work was the unification and integration with the Social Security Institute (IPS) both in Human Resources and in building capacity and equipment.

“This growth has never occurred before in the Ministry of Health, there was always a deficit in the number of beds but also the number of personnel. Currently, the staff is being reorganized, so that there are one or two intensivists and the rest is covered by professionals from related specialties such as pulmonologists, medical clinic residents who also have training, who rotate through the service during their residencies,” he expressed.

Currently, the health portfolio is focused on promoting emblematic hospitals in the central area such as the Barrio Obrero, which does not have an ICU but a building sector was adapted for a resuscitation room, with respirators, monitors, and trained personnel to manage seriously ill patients. , provide care while they are transferred or improved and moved to a common room. “This is being done in several hospitals,” he said.