Israeli hospitals are being flooded with patients as of yesterday (Monday). Most emeremcy rooms have no room and some are way over their capacity. There are patients in hallways and even in hospital dining rooms.
The most serious overcrowding was in Sheba Hospital, where the emergency room was filled to 200% capacity. The hospital said every ward is full, even the internal medicine ward, the surgery ward and pediatric ward. “We’re trying to continue accepting the many patients still coming. We added more surgeries to our schedule to accommodate the people and shorten lines,” the hospital said.
Hadassah Ein-Kerem’s emergency room fared a bit better with 180% capacity. Ambulances had to wait 40 minutes before they could take their patients out into an emergency room bed that just became free. The assistant supervisor said “the medical staff is overwhelmed; patients are being sent home early and the care is not optimal right now.”
Hadassah Mount Scopus reported 120% capacity; Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheva also reported 120% capacity and the Rambam Hospital in Haifa reported 110% capacity.
Magen David Adom reported they are also finding it difficult to deal with the wave of calls. They said they’re treating this wave like a war, augmenting the ambulance system and recruiting more drivers and first responders.