The activities of a rural hospital located in south-eastern Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic

Marek Kos; Piotr Sobolewski; Renata Hatalska-Żerebiec; Karol Paciura; Robert Podsiadły; Mateusz Antecki

doi:10.5114/ms.2024.143747

eISSN: 2300-6722
ISSN: 1899-1874

Medical Studies/Studia Medyczne

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4/2024
vol. 40

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abstract:

Original paper

The activities of a rural hospital located in south-eastern Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic

Marek Kos

^{1, 2}

,

Piotr K. Sobolewski

^{3, 4}

,

Renata Hatalska-Żerebiec

⁴

,

Karol Paciura

⁴

,

Robert Podsiadły

⁵

,

Mateusz Antecki

⁴

Department of Public Health, Medical University of Lublin, Poland
Department of Administration, Holy Spirit Specialist Hospital, Sandomierz, Poland
Collegium Medicum, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland
Department of Neurology and Stroke Unit in Sandomierz, Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Poland
Department of Mechatronics in Sandomierz, Jan Kochanowski University, in Kielce, Poland

Medical Studies/Studia Medyczne 2024; 40 (4): 309–318

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/ms.2024.143747

Online publish date: 2024/11/08

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Introduction
During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals had to made enormous efforts to reorganise medical assistance.

Aim of the research
The assessment of the activities of an entire rural hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Material and methods
The number of hospitalisations in the individual departments, length of stay, the numbers of the major surgeries, reperfusion procedures, number of births, and in-hospital deaths in the periods between 1 March 2018 and 31 May 2019 (n = 24,437) and between 1 March 2020 and 31 May 2021 (n = 20,686) were compared.

Results
In the analysed pandemic period there were 798 patients with a SARS-CoV-2 infection, and 179 (22.4%) of them died. In the univariate analysis during the pandemic compared to the period before pandemic, the significant decrease in the number of hospitalisations both in operating (p < 0.001) and in conservative departments (p < 0.001) were recorded; however, these numbers varied from department to department, and the average length of hospital stay was statistically significantly shorter (p < 0.001). The multivariate analysis showed that in most departments there was a decrease of the number of hospitalised patients, except for the internal medicine (p < 0.001), neurosurgery (p < 0.001), neonatology (p < 0.001), and urology (p < 0.001) departments. The shorter hospital stay was also found in almost all departments, unlike the cardiology (p < 0.001) and daytime rehabilitation (p < 0.001) departments. Higher numbers of deaths in the cardiology (p < 0.001) and palliative care (p < 0.001) departments were reported.

Conclusions
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a reduction in the number of patients in hospital and shorter stays in most hospital departments.

keywords:

The activities of a rural hospital located in south-eastern Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic

Marek Kos 1, 2 , Piotr K. Sobolewski 3, 4 , Renata Hatalska-Żerebiec 4 , Karol Paciura 4 , Robert Podsiadły 5 , Mateusz Antecki 4

COVID-19, rural hospital, activities during pandemic

Marek Kos

^{1, 2}

,

Piotr K. Sobolewski

^{3, 4}

,

Renata Hatalska-Żerebiec

⁴

,

Karol Paciura

⁴

,

Robert Podsiadły

⁵

,

Mateusz Antecki

⁴