Three private hospitals admitted that they can no longer accommodate COVID-19 positive patients in its facilities and cited that they already exceeded capacity in terms of providing services.
The Medical City in Pasig City released an update on its current patient capacity on Monday and said its health care workers were already “overstretched” since more than 100 of them are currently on quarantine.
The hospital said that it has 64 persons under investigation and 18 patients infected by the virus in its facilities. Eleven more patients are reported to be waiting for rooms while six are “already on mechanical ventilators and 5 are in critical condition.”
“Unless we are able to move the new patients to other hospitals, our healthcare delivery system is going to break down,” the management of TMC said.
It added that they have reached out to other hospitals in Pasig but all of them have reached their “full capacity” in terms of the workforce and facilities’ equipment.
“We do not wish at all to turn you away, but the reality is that we can no longer provide your loved ones the care that they need. Your own initiative to look for other hospitals is appreciated,” TMC added.
Update on the current TMC capacity and #COVID19 cases as of March 23, 2020.
Posted by The Medical City on Monday, March 23, 2020
On Tuesday, St. Luke’s Medical Center also said that its two branches, in Quezon City and Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, can no longer accommodate COVID-19 positive patients for confinement “regrettably.”
“Both hospitals have already exceeded maximum capacity and admitting more COVID-19 patients will seriously impact our ability to deliver the critical level of care and attention patients need at this time,” St. Luke’s management said.
“We are also treating non-COVID patients on other floors in which their health conditions cannot be compromised. While it is our desire to extend quality healthcare to every patient that needs our help, we can only do so much at this point,” it added.
The hospital reported that it has 48 COVID-19 positive patients, 139 under investigation and 592 frontline workers who are on quarantine as of today.
“For the meantime, we will still provide outpatient COVID-19 testing for patients who will qualify based on the stringent criteria set by the Department of Health,” St. Luke’s added.
Posted by St. Luke's Medical Center on Monday, March 23, 2020
Makati Medical Center likewise announced that it is already in “full capacity” in terms of handling COVID-19 cases based on its bed availability, workforce and supply of vital infection prevention equipment.
The management said that it has “attended to more than 700 patients suspected to have COVID-19” since the outbreak of the deadly pathogen started in the Philippines late January.
It added that it has already “expanded its physical and manpower capability to admit more patients, hired new recruits (both nurses and physicians) and closed some areas to augment workforce in other vital units.”
The hospital said that it is currently taking care of more than 70 patients, including those in the intensive care units, those with COVID-19 and those waiting for the results of their swab tests.
“These patients include some of our frontline physicians, nurses, technicians, nursing aides, among others,” MMC said.
Makati Medical Center has reached its FULL CAPACITY to respond to more COVID-19 cases. #MakatiMedOfficial
Posted by Makati Medical Center on Tuesday, March 24, 2020
COVID-19-dedicated hospitals
Last week, several private hospitals asked the Department of Health and the national government to designate specific hospitals that can attend to COVID-19 patients as cases in the country continue to rise.
Based on the statement of 11 hospital administrators as reported by Philstar, “regular rooms have been converted into isolation areas, leaving less for non-COVID-19 high-risk patients and even intensive care unit rooms are getting full.”
“Our collective call to action is to centralize all efforts and resources into ONE or TWO COVID-19 hospitals, adequately equipped and invested upon by the government, designated to receive, screen and treat PUIs and COVID-19 positive patients when the allowable number of cases per hospital, private and public, is exceeded,” the hospital heads said.
DOH recently designated the Philippine General Hospital, the Lung Center of the Philippines and the Dr. Jose M. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital to exclusively serve patients with COVID-19.
Last Saturday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the hospitals will be ready in a week’s time.
“By end of this coming week ay puwede na natin gamitin,” she said in a radio interview.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Philippines recorded 552 cases of COVID-19. Of which, 35 succumbed to the coronavirus disease while 20 people have recovered from the viral disease.
