Hospitals make full preparation as Puxi lockdown looms
Local hospitals are fully prepared for Friday's lockdown of Puxi, the western part of Shanghai across the Huangpu River, as they look to ensure medical operation and patients' safety.
Officials from the Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, a city-level hospital with the largest hemodialysis center in Shanghai, said it has prepared a special section for patients without negative nucleic acid reports or with high risks such as close contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients to receive hemodialysis.
"We have set up a special area for such patients, while other patients will receive hemodialysis at our normal place to reduce COVID-19 risk and ensure all patients can undergo treatment in time," Li Xin, vice director of the hospital's outpatient and emergency office, revealed. "The hemodialysis service will be available every day during the lockdown."
The hospital's outpatient and emergency services will also operate under their usual schedule during the four-day lockdown.
"To ensure the successful operation of the emergency department, medical staff will stay in the hospital during the period so that we have enough manpower," said Dr Guo Jian from Yueyang's emergency department.
The hemodialysis center at Yueyang hospital is operating normally on Thursday, on the eve of the Puxi lockdown.
A patient at Yueyang hospital.
The Gynecology and Obstetrics Hospital at Fudan University said it has screened all registered pregnant women and send text messages to each of them, detailing the hospital situation, adjustments and arrangements, to ease their anxiety.
Prenatal inspection is very important, especially checks for deformity screening, which must be done in time. The hospital has contacted each pregnant woman scheduled for such checks during the Puxi lockdown, reminding them to prepare negative nucleic acid reports within 48 hours to ensure they can undergo the checks during the lockdown.
"More than 6,000 pregnant women have registered with the hospital. We have WeChat groups to allow pregnant women to communicate with medical staff. Department directors, leading doctors and nurses are all in the group, on hand to offer timely answers and solutions," said Dr Gu Weirong from the hospital.
A doctor at the Gynecology and Obstetrics Hospital at Fudan University checks a pregnant woman with an urgent condition.
The Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Center is one of the 10 city-level medical facilities affected by the Pudong lockdown, which was launched on March 28.
The center, which uses cutting-edge proton and heavy ion beams to target and kill cancerous tissue without harming healthy tissues and cells, is the first facility of its kind in China and only the third in the world.
During the phased lockdown, the hospital has maintained operations to ensure cancer patients receive treatment in time.
The hospital introduced reservations for all outpatient services and arranged assistants to offer individualized service for each patient. More than 100 patients have been treated at the hospital during the lockdown, and the daily outpatient treatment and new hospitalized patient numbers are the same as before the lockdown.
With Puxi getting locked down on Friday, the hospital has reminded patients to prepare negative nucleic acid reports within 24 hours to ensure smooth treatment. The hospital said it is open during the entire Pudong and Puxi lockdowns from March 28 to April 5.
Hospital officials also said their online service and remote consultation system are working 24 hours and suggested patients use the online service during the ongoing pandemic resurgence.
A cancer patient undergoes radiation therapy at the Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Center, one of the 10 city-level medical facilities affected by the Pudong lockdown from March 28.
