More hospitals nearing full capacity
Most hospitals in Metro Manila, Cebu City and Iloilo have almost reached their full bed capacity for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, according to the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. PHAPi president Rustico Jimenez said there is a need to decongest hospitals of patients who can be transferred to quarantine facilities, but do not want to.
“These areas have the highest number of cases and are nearing their full capacity. Other areas are still manageable, unless the cases will continue to surge,” Jimenez told The STAR.
Jimenez said there is an immediate need to decongest hospitals by transferring patients who have recovered to step-down quarantine facilities.
He said those who are asymptomatic and have mild symptoms should be placed in isolation centers and not in hospitals.
Jimenez said hospitals are having difficulty transferring patients to isolation facilities as most of them refuse to do so.
“We need the help of government in transferring patients to decongest the hospitals and make space for those who are severe and critical,” he said.
As this developed, The Medical City (TMC) announced that it has reached its full bed capacity for COVID-19 patients despite efforts to re-organize and augment its facilities and manpower.
Earlier, St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City and Bonifacio Global City in Taguig as well as the Makati Medical Center announced that their bed capacity for COVID cases were full.
“We are aware that this is a looming problem, but we cannot go beyond our capacity to take care of COVID-19 patients without posing serious risks to everyone, both COVID and non-COVID patients as well as our hospital staff,” read a statement signed by TMC chief medical officer Rafael Claudio.
He said TMC does not wish to compromise its service to general patients, who have less serious medical needs and now comprise a majority of the hospital’s case load.
The hospital appealed for understanding as it advised the public to consider other institutions for critically-ill COVID-19 patients.
“We are coordinating with the city government of Pasig for the management of COVID-19 patients on the strength of our existing public-private partnership designating Pasig City Children’s Hospital (PCCH) as a COVID center for ‘moderate’ cases. We are ready to facilitate endorsement if and when we can,” Claudio said.