Emergency rooms strained by holiday schedule

Israel’s emergency rooms are under strain because of overflow from local clinics as Israel’s sick try to obtain treatment between the holidays, medical officials say.

The Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, near Ramat Gan, says its emergency room on Thursday is at 300 percent capacity.

The Rosh Hashanah holiday earlier this week, the coming Sabbath, and next week’s Yom Kippur holiday have caused many Israelis to try to see their doctors during a small number of intervening days, leading to a long backlog at their local clinics. The clinics are now sending their overflow to emergency rooms, say officials, leading to overflow in the hospitals as well.

The Terem network of emergency clinics, which operates on weekends and holidays, announces it is increasing manpower at its clinics over the holidays to help offset the rush.