Epidemiological Situation Reduces Operations at Zenica Hospital

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The worsening epidemiological situation in the Zenica-Doboj Canton is accompanied by an increased number of patients requiring hospitalization. On the other hand, there is also an increase in the number of infected employees at the Zenica Cantonal Hospital, which further complicates the organization of work at the largest healthcare institution, where the surgical program has been reduced again.

Due to the increased influx of patients requiring hospitalization, the constant filling of COVID wards, and the situation with medical staff at the Zenica Cantonal Hospital, the surgical program has been reduced.

„Only emergency and necessary surgeries and acute pain syndromes will be performed. We will also reduce admissions outside the surgical program, only for emergency and urgent hospitalizations, and we are trying to recall all those on annual leave to ensure a sufficient number of staff for adequate patient treatment,“ says Prof. Dr. Rasim Skomorac, director of the Zenica Cantonal Hospital.

The elective surgical program is on hold until further notice at the Tešanj General Hospital as well, which treats patients with milder clinical presentations.

„We have an increased influx of patients - not all of these patients require hospitalization, but they burden our healthcare sector, and consequently surgery, which has been under great pressure, so at the Crisis Staff meeting we decided to suspend the elective program due to the increased number of positive patients,“ explains Dr. Omer Bedak, director of the Tešanj General Hospital.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Zenica Cantonal Hospital has faced a shortage of anesthesiologists. Recently, the situation has become even more difficult - there is also a shortage of nursing staff.

„For 7 patients who are hospitalized, we must increase the number of nurses by one shift - that is 5 additional nurses. If it involves placing patients in intensive care, for every new 2-3 patients we must introduce a new shift. This puts tremendous pressure on the organization and the number of staff engaged,“ adds Skomorac.

Hospital capacities are not as full as before, but these measures being taken are necessary to avoid a collapse of healthcare institutions and to ensure that services become available to citizens again as soon as possible.