“We can’t see the end of it”, in Lyon practically all the intensive care beds occupied in the HCL
Croix-Rousse Hospital @WilliamPham
The situation is deteriorating in Lyon hospitals. “This Wednesday morning (December 8), practically all the resuscitation beds were occupied“, explains the director general of the HCL, Raymond Le Moign, in Lyon Capitale. And the tension will increase in the coming days. The deprogramming will multiply.
The health situation is deteriorating in Lyon. The number of new cases of covid-19 continued to increase (read the point from Lyon Capitale here). “The circulation of Covid-19 is intensifying in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes where all the departments are facing an increase in the incidence rate. Although attenuated by vaccination compared to previous waves, the impact on hospitalization is nevertheless clear and is accelerating in the region.», Explains ARS Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on Wednesday 8 December.
Asked at midday, this Wednesday, December 8, by Lyon Capital, the general manager of the Hospices Civils de Lyon (the second largest hospital structure in France behind Parisian hospitals) notes that the situation is tense in the HCLs. “This Wednesday morning (December 8), practically all the resuscitation beds were occupied“, explains Raymond Le Moign.”We must make the decision to activate the installation of additional critical care and resuscitation beds this Wednesday and Thursday. We had started to deprogram and there we go to the stage where we re-increase the potential of intensive care beds to be able to accommodate covid-19 patients.“, adds the director of HCL.
“We are forced to increase the number of intensive care beds again”
Raymond Le Moign, director of the Hospices Civils de Lyon
Despite the high vaccination rate in the Rhône department (96% of over 12s), a vaccine that reduces severe forms, Lyon hospitals are under high tension. “There are two flows that add up: the flow of classic winter pathologies which means that every December there is a large number of hospitalized patients and at the same time there is the covid pressure which increases little by little. The coagulation of these two phenomena encountered in tension in the hospital system“Says Raymond Le Moign, director of HCL. It’s simple, in the Hospices Civils de Lyon, there are three times more patients hospitalized as a result of covid-19 than two weeks ago.
Suddenly, as in the first waves, the HCLs have to deprogram operations and reorganize certain services. “We have to increase the number of intensive care beds again. To do this, we have to deprogram and reconvert beds which were not traditionally dedicated to resuscitation. We are currently between 30 and 50% deprogramming “, emphasizes Raymond Le Moign.
All public hospitals in the region, but also all private clinics in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, are concerned. “In anticipation of changes in resuscitation bed needs, after consultation with all the federations of hospital establishments, the Director General of ARS Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes asks all public and private establishments to activate their white plans“, specifies the ARS.”The decision, it will require that all hospitals make the same decision as the HCLs. Including private clinics. Trigger the white plan but also initiate a deprogramming process“, explains the director general of the HCL, Raymond Le Moign. The white plan is activated until January 3, 2022, with a reassessment scheduled for the end of December.
“We do not see the end of it … The room for maneuver is not enormous …”
Raymond Le Moign, General Manager of HCL
In Lyon, the situation in hospitals will not improve anytime soon because the incidence rate continues to climb. The circulation of the virus at time t in a territory is measured by the incidence rate. It is a key indicator. The incidence rate determines the number of positive cases over the last 7 days per 100,000 inhabitants. On a brilliant week. It is a very good way to measure the degree of circulation of the virus, at an instant t, on a territory.
In the Rhône department, according to the latest figures stabilized on Saturday, December 4, the incidence rate is 660 (the data therefore takes into account the period between Sunday November 28 and Saturday December 4). This rate was 445 on November 27, a week earlier, 284 on November 22, and 135 on November 15. The increase is very clear in a few days … And above all, the number of cases continues to increase every day. By way of comparison, the incidence rate is 444 in France on average.
In the HCL, the tension is not ready to drop … “Are you worried“, we ask the director general of HCL.”As we do not see the end of it … The room for maneuver is not enormous … Except to completely deprogram all the scheduled surgery, all the non-urgent acts, which will have consequences at a given time within the deadlines access to the health system», Concludes Raymond Le Moign, general manager of the Hospices Civils de Lyon.
Read also : Covid-19: in the Rhône, the incidence exceeds the peaks of the 3rd and 4th waves (graph)