A hospital opened in Utsunomiya City to accept patients with the new coronavirus will be closed in 5 days due to the fact that the position of the new coronavirus under the Infectious Diseases Act will be difficult to operate in the future due to the review of the hospital bed securing fee due to the transition to Class 21, Tochigi Prefecture and other prefectures have learned.
According to Tochigi Prefecture and medical personnel, the "Yuinomori Memorial Hospital" in Utsunomiya City will be closed in 21 days.
This hospital was opened in October by a medical corporation in Utsunomiya City in order to secure beds for patients up to moderate illness infected with the new coronavirus after being approached by the prefecture.
All of the approximately 6 million yen in maintenance costs were covered by prefectural subsidies, and the prefabricated one-story ward was equipped with 24 dedicated beds for the new coronavirus, which were sometimes full during the spread of infection.
On the other hand, the operating expenses of hospitals during the period when the infection was not spreading have been made use of the hospital securing fee from the government, but if the position of the new coronavirus under the Infectious Diseases Act shifts to Class 5 on May 8, it will be difficult to operate in the future due to the reduction of the bed securing fee, so the prefectural government and the medical corporation decided to close the hospital in consultation.
The Health Policy Division of the Prefectural Health and Welfare Department said, "It was necessary to close the hospital before that because it would become difficult to continue operating due to the transition to Class 5, and we would like to aim for a system that accepts patients at a wide range of medical institutions in the future."