Covid absenteeism disrupts care at St Jansdal hospital

The St Jansdal Hospital is dealing with such high absenteeism that it had to cancel about 30 percent of all surgeries and many outpatient appointments. The emergency room is also not always available, the hospital said on Facebook. St Jansdal has locations in Lelystad and Hardewijk.

An "extremely high" number of employees is currently in isolation due to a Covid-19 infection or quarantine because of the coronavirus rules, the hospital said. Hospital care has been disrupted.

"Unfortunately, we have to cancel outpatient appointments because doctors are needed in other places. Thirty percent of the surgery program in Hardewijk is at a standstill, and the emergency room has to close regularly because it is full."

The hospital is flooded with calls from patients trying to find out whether appointments are canceled, and it simply does not have the staff to deal with all the calls. St Jansdal, therefore, asked patients not to call. "We will call you as soon as we know more about your appointment."