The Southeastern region of the Buenos Aires Province metropolitan area in the face of the pandemic: evaluation of the expansion of the health system in the framework of COVID-19

Abstract

The southeastern region of the Buenos Aires Province metropolitan area (GBA) reformulated the public health system due to the COVID19 pandemic. Among the measures that were taken, is the expansion of the number of beds through the construction and start-up of three hospitals. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the expansion of the number of beds on the hospitalization results of patients assisted by public health providers during the study period (April 8, 2020 to September 11, 2020). METHODS: Descriptive study based on information registered in the COVID-19 Dashboard, management software developed by the Instituto del Cálculo of the Universidad de Buenos Aires in which data is obtained from each patient admitted to the network of health effectors; The results of the effect of the increase in installed capacity are evaluated. RESULTS: 2,306 hospitalized patients were registered, of which 266 (11.54%) required admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), 1,786 (77.4%) to intermediate care and 254 (11%) patients to ward general. The mean age was 50.63 and male patients represented 55.5% of the total. There were 253 deaths (10.97%), of which 64% were men. 58.3% of the total had pre-existing diseases, these have a 90% higher risk than those who did not have them. The total average occupancy of beds in ICU was 40.7%, while that of occupancy in intermediate care was 61.5%. Without the new hospitals, 169 patients (9.46%) would not have had beds in intermediate care and 31 patients (11.6%) would have had no beds in the ICU. DISCUSSION: The health system in the southeast region of the GBA was adequately prepared thanks to the expansion of the number of hospital beds.