Abstract
National Hospital Organization Akita National Hospital has 340 beds, 290 of which are convalescence/nursing care beds. Our hospital employs 28% (9/33) of the neurologists working in Akita Prefecture. Eighty–seven percent (356/403) of inpatient referrals in the past 5 years came from the three secondary medical regions Yuri Honjo/Nikaho, Akita, and Daisen/Senboku, with only 1% (4/403) coming from outside the prefecture.
According to a survey of the number of patients with muscular diseases in Akita Prefecture conducted in 2018, the prevalence per 100,000 people was 9.7 for myotonic dystrophy and that per 100,000 males was 5.3 for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which represented a substantial increase in patients with myotonic dystrophy as compared with 2008. Recently, we experienced the transition to home care of a patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who had been hospitalized for 22 years, but finding a dwelling, training of caregivers, and so forth did not go smoothly due to the Covid–19 pandemic, which we dealt with by temporary accommodation after discharge, holding discharge conferences online, and training caregivers online, etc.
Our hospital was designated a core hospital for intractable disease medical care by the Akita Prefecture Intractable Disease Medical Care Network in October 2019. A questionnaire survey was conducted, in which respondents asked for workshops on the welfare system to be held as there is insufficient understanding of the convalescence/nursing care system.
