Hospital in Venlo temporarily stops admitting new patients

The VieCuri hospital in Venlo has not been admitting any new patients since 1 p.m. on Saturday.

“After consulting with the AmbulanceZorg Limburg-Noord and general practitioners, it has been agreed that no new patients can be admitted”, a spokesperson from VieCuri said to Limburg1.

The hospital was receiving more new patients in the emergency department than they were releasing which is why all beds were occupied. “For the safety of the patients, we, therefore, chose to send them in advance to surrounding hospitals”, the spokesperson said.

This means the ambulance will directly transport patients to another care facility. GPs will also send their patients to a different medical center should they need to be admitted to hospital.

“It is a last resort. As a hospital, we would of course prefer not to do this. This is an exception. We always try our best to provide good care for every patient, but every hospital has its maximum capacity”, the spokesperson emphasized.

Viecuri already closed two operating rooms to make staff available for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. Other than that care will continue as planned. “We have fewer operating rooms than planned, but unlike the first wave, keeping planned care going has been reasonably successful”, according to the spokesperson.

It has not been said how long this measure will last.