Two hotel chains in the Netherlands have begun converting their hotels into hospitals for patients do not need emergency care but are too ill to remain at home.
The Van der Valk and Fletcher hotel chains have begun converting some of their hotels into emergency hospitals, the first of which will open at the Van der Valk Hotel in Urmond, Limburg. Rob Hermans, the CEO of Fletcher Hotels has stated that hundreds of locations could be opened for patients within 24 hours.
The Acibadem private hospital in Amsterdam is also helping combat the coronavirus and has announced it is making its doctors, staff, equipment, operating theatres and beds available to Amsterdam’s OVLG hospitals. The Acibadem hospital will also donate protective clothing and face masks to OVLG.
The healthcare system in the Netherlands has been stretched thin due to the coronavirus. This has left a need, not only for hospital supplies and beds but for respirators as well.
Hugo de Jonge, the country’s health minister, said on Monday that the Netherlands has ordered around 2.000 units from the US and is also looking into setting up its own production line. The Minister for Agriculture, Carola Schouten, has also called on vets to make their respirators available to hospitals. Philips, the Dutch multinational, manufactures respirators in the US and has already doubled production to 2.000 a week.