The unit went from having availability for 60 patients to 80, including adults and children, who They are visited by a multidisciplinary team.
The increase in respiratory diseases prior to the start of winter has brought with it a series of measures. Among them, the Dr. Gustavo Fricke Hospital of the SSVQP decided to expand the number of places available for patients in home hospitalization in order to anticipate the possible congestion of the healthcare network.
This increase occurs, having completed 2 years of extending the service to pediatric patients. This was explained by Doctor Dr. Marcelo Garrido, head of the campus Unit. “Two years ago, for the winter 2022 campaign, we were able to start treating pediatric patients at home, it was a great challenge. We are covering patients from two months of age to 17 years without any conflict. Our team is made up of pediatricians, family doctors, nurses and kinesiologists who are completely up-to-date with a pediatric approach.”
Regarding the places, which increased from 60 to 80, he indicated that they will be distributed between adults and children depending on the need. “As soon as they are required, we are going to open those quotas. The idea is that we can always respond to the demand of the Emergency Unit, the Pediatric Unit and the Pediatric Critical Patient Unit.”
The head of the Pediatric Service of the Dr. Gustavo Fricke Hospital, Dr. Claudio Cisterna compared last year’s winter campaign with the one being prepared now, in order to provide coverage to all users who live even in the most remote sectors. from Viña del Mar and Concón.
“Last year was a very intense winter campaign, many of the children who were hospitalized went home with oxygen. And thanks to the Home Hospitalization team, with doctors, nurses, kinesiologists, home oxygen, we managed to quickly get those children home from hospitalization. So this year we are increasing the quotas, this year’s intensity of respiratory diseases, thanks to immunization, has been a little lower. But, in any case, we are always sending children home and this increase in quotas will also help us decongest our hospital a little.” He stated she.
For her part, the deputy medical director of the Dr. Gustavo Fricke Hospital, Dr. Tatiana Aldunate, added that both completing two years of pediatric home hospitalization and expanding quotas – facing the most complex months due to respiratory diseases – Set up an achievement for the hospital.
“Last year was precisely the great boost that Home Hospitalization had, and it allowed patients to be evacuated from the pediatric area to keep beds available for children leaving the ICU, and especially also for the Naneas group, who are children with chronic rehabilitation problems. , cerebral palsy, for example, and that allow them not to have to be in the hospital and to maintain a more protected treatment, avoid superinfection, etc., and above all the rehabilitation part. And I believe that this is a first step towards having a greater number of specialists, for example in speech therapy, to keep these children with many chronic diseases, free of hospital but maintaining multidisciplinary team care.”
