The agency explains that the situation in their hospitals is tense due to a lack of qualified medical personnel that lead to the closure of patient rooms, and the adaptation of the modus operandi of certain hospital services in the Moselle region.
The chief executive of the CHR Hospital Metz-Thionville warned the personnel in an internal note that this decision was made as a result of a severe saturation of ER services. Depending on how the situation evolves, certain establishments may cancel non-urgent procedures in order to mobilise the entirety of its personnel, whether they are available or not.
This could mean that personnel that is on leave could be called in to help, should there be a patient influx or an extraordinary health situation.
Thus, officials are reminding people who live in the Grand Est but especially those who live in the sectors of Metz and Thionville to call the emergency number 15 before going to the ER. You can find more information on what to do if you cannot make an appointment on their website.
Union leaders have underlined the extraordinary character of a situation that has been going for too long. A delegate of the group SOS Santé who, among other things, manages a hospital in Saint-Avold said that the extraordinary has become ordinary and at some point, things will fall apart.
