“None of the most exposed caregivers” was infected with the CHU

• The Pontchaillou CHU in Rennes has started to reschedule surgical procedures postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic.
• Doctors had to reassure patients because many feared they would come to the hospital for fear of being infected.
• Among hospital staff, only 70 of the 9,000 workers were affected by the epidemic, less than 1% of the staff. “This proves that the measures are effective.”

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The intensive care unit of the CHU Reindeer is almost empty. Thursday evening, there were only 37 patients with
Covid-19 within the walls of the largest hospital in Brittany. Only seven were still in intensive care, of which five were from
medical evacuations carried out in March from Ile-de-France. Relatively spared from the epidemic, Brittany, like much of France, will be deconfined on Monday. Will she
hit by a second wave? No one can say. At the Pontchaillou CHU, the teams say they are ready but want to take advantage of the lull offered by confinement to reschedule the surgical procedures postponed because of the coronavirus epidemic.

For several days, doctors, caregivers and secretaries have therefore called their patients one by one in order to offer them a new date to operate on them. A considerable site since 2,000 acts had been postponed. On the phone, caregivers had to be pedagogical to ensure that returning to the hospital was not a danger. “Some patients were extremely reluctant to come to the hospital. They were afraid of coming into a place of active circulation of the virus. We had to work to reassure them, “says Professor Gilles Brassier.

“It proves that the measures are effective”

To convince, the president of the Pontchaillou establishment medical commission put forward a weighty argument. “None of the caregivers in the services most exposed to coronavirus (resuscitation and continuing care) have not contracted the virus. This proves that the protective measures taken by our staff are effective. ” Within the facility, only 70 of the 9,000 staff have been infected with Covid-19 and none have been hospitalized.

For Professor Brassier, it is now urgent for the hospital to return to its “normal” activity. “In many disciplines, we have seen pathologies diagnosed at a very late stage”. For fear of the virus, people who have had a heart attack or have appendicitis have not consulted. “We faced complication rates that no longer existed. The consequences can be serious. ”

To welcome its patients in the best possible sanitary conditions, the staff of the CHU has implemented important protective measures. Each person will be submitted to a health questionnaire prior to their arrival. Once in the hospital, she will have to wear a mask and go through two levels of control: one at the entrance to the buildings and the other before entering the clinic. “The level of circulation of the virus is very low. It’s very reasonable to resume our activities. It is essential that the population feels reassured ”, estimates professor Pierre Tatevin, infectiologist at the CHU of Rennes.

What if the epidemic resumes because of the deconfinement? “We will be able to reorganize quickly,” promises the director of the establishment Véronique Anatole-Touzet.

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