Česky
Mr. Chief Medical Officer, how do you think 2020 was and what would you like to see in the new year?
I don't want last year to be all about pandemics and other negative news. So I'd like to share the positive ones. For example, thanks to the support of our hospital management and its owner Sotirios Zavalianis, we have acquired three state-of-the-art devices for our Rehabilitation Centre, which we lacked until then and which will allow us to further improve and streamline rehabilitation for our patients with neurological, traumatological and orthopaedic diagnoses. This is the "Meditutor" system, which is a feedback-based rehabilitation system that enables highly specialised rehabilitation for patients with upper limb and leg motor disabilities. Within this system, the 3D principle can also be used to enable wireless feedback rehabilitation, which is appropriate to include throughout this system to train more extensive movement coordination.
Another new device is the Myro. The device has a touch-sensitive surface that responds to direct hand contact. Therapy on this device can target gross and fine motor skills of the hand, coordination of movements, but also disorders of so-called cognitive functions, such as concentration or selective attention, which are often impaired in patients with neurological disorders, in addition to mobility disorders. The third novelty is a device for functional electrical stimulation of the upper and lower limbs. These devices have electrodes that stimulate the nerves controlling certain muscles of the arm or leg. In neurological mobility disorders, this device is used to stimulate the nerves of the paralysed arm or lower limb. This promotes gripping and grasping with the fingers on the hand and elevating the paralysed leg while walking on the lower limb, thus improving the quality of walking.
Despite my preference for positive news, it cannot be overlooked that 2020 has been a different year for our Rehabilitation Center in many ways than past years, especially with the coronavirus epidemic. Necessary organisational and operational changes, the temporary suspension of rehabilitation for outpatients and restrictions in the inpatient area have significantly affected its operations. The period of the worsened epidemiological situation proved to be particularly psychologically challenging for all staff. The demands placed on the whole team were certainly much higher than in the period before the epidemic. Despite this, however, I have noticed a certain positive outcome, as the relationships within the working team were tested in difficult situations. It showed how seriously individual employees took their work, whether they were sufficiently aware of the complex situation and the resulting new tasks, and to what extent they were willing to prioritise the current needs of the workplace.
I believe that we will gradually return to normal operations in 2021. We will build on the previous excellent cooperation with other sites, which we have had to significantly reduce. We definitely want to accept patients from IKEM after cardiac surgery again in the future, but also patients after lung transplants from Motol Hospital. Before the epidemic, we provided highly specialised rehabilitation care to both of these specific groups of patients.
Personally, I would like to see a calming down of the heated social situation in the coming period and correct relations between people, and I would like to see everyone strictly adhering to the restrictive but necessary protective recommendations and measures. I wish our patients a successful recovery and hope that they will continue to be satisfied with our care. I thank all the staff of our hospital for the dedication they have shown, especially during the worst periods of the epidemic. The quality and demanding care they provide to our patients has clearly contributed to the successful management of the difficult situations this year has brought. I would like to thank the hospital management for the helpfulness, support and understanding they have shown and continue to show over the past period.
MUDr. Ondřej Horáček, Ph.D.
Chief of the Rehabilitation Centre
He has been working at the Rehabilitation Hospital Beroun since 2011.
