Paediatric department reopened at Famagusta hospital

Seven children are being treated in the paediatric department of Famagusta general hospital that reopened this week two years after its operation was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantelas said on Thursday.

The department “is so much needed in the district”, the minister said during a visit there in the morning, adding that seven children are already being treated there 48 hours after its reopening.

Famagusta hospital is the reference hospital for coronavirus on the island and many of its departments suspended operations to treat Covid patients.

In the same way the paediatric clinic reopened, Hadjipantelas said all problems and requests of other hospitals must also be addressed. The aim, he said, is to strengthen all hospitals in all cities.

For the specific hospital, he said “our goal is to strengthen it, not just to bring back the previous services that the hospital had.”

The minister also visited the dialysis unit to examine its problems.

He told reporters that around mid-June the delivery of some new dialysis machines was expected, while he was also updated about the issues with the number of beds.

Hadjipantelas took the opportunity to thank all nurses, “especially the nurses who have been on the front line” for their work at the hospital on the occasion of International Nurses Day.

Referring to a possible new wave of the pandemic from September, the minister said that “we are ready for this eventuality, but let’s focus on the problems we have at the moment and if we have to change our plans from September, we will change them.”