Local hospitals gradually resume normal outpatient services
Expert clinics have been resumed at Renji Hospital.
Local hospitals are gradually resuming normal outpatient services to meet demand after shutting down certain treatments and expert clinics due to the COVID-19 resurgence.
The services will also be available during the upcoming 5-day May Day holiday kicking off tomorrow.
Renji Hospital said it has resumed its expert and VIP services and some leading experts' quota for gynecology and oncology patients have been fully booked.
To help patients, its gynecology department established a WeChat group in the early stage of lockdown from late March to offer guidance and consultations to pregnant women.
Dr Zhang Binyuan, director of the hospital's outpatient and emergency office, said the hospital's ordinary outpatient service has never shut during the pandemic and the expert service has been resumed as much as possible to meet patients' needs.
"The east branch of the hospital in the Pudong New Area is offering over 3,000 outpatient services each day. Departments of geriatrics, cardiology, neurology and endocrinology are the most popular as they are the major areas serving patients with chronic diseases," said Zhang.
"We have also resumed professional services like drug changes, endoscopy and peripherally inserted central catheters for patients, no matter their previous treatment was received in Renji or not."
Zhongshan Hospital said its emergency department is available at all time and has been receiving a record high number of patients during the pandemic, as some other facilities have stopped their service.
It has received over 1,000 emergency patients every day recently, up more than 43 percent than usual. It can receive up to 100-odd ambulances a day, a rise of 68 percent.
The hospital said it will resume all outpatient services and its hospitalization service from next week.
A patient receives an expert consultation at Renji Hospital's oncology department.
