Hospitals in Cebu pledge to add 124 COVID-19 beds
CEBU CITY, Philippines – At least four privately owned hospitals based in Metro Cebu have pledged to provide a total of 124 additional beds to accommodate more coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients who are in need of hospital care.
This was announced during a press conference held by Mugstoria, and broadcasted through the social media pages of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) on Monday, June 15, 2020.
Figures compiled by the government showed that four privately-owned health institutions in Cebu vowed to put up a total of 110 more regular beds, and another 14 beds inside Intensive Care Units (ICU).
Data presented during the virtual press briefing revealed that there are only a total of 453 hospital beds allocated for patients positive for COVID-19 from five of Metro Cebu’s largest hospitals.
Of these figures, 394 are regular beds while 59 are ICU beds dedicated to patients considered as severe or critical cases. With the planned augmentation, the number of COVID-19 beds is expected to increase to 577 in these five hospitals in Metro Cebu.
Based on the statistics showed, the five hospitals have a total of 2,785 regular and ICU beds.
READ MORE: Study says CV could face shortage in hospital beds if COVID-19 peaks
Last week, the public has been clamoring for local officials to address reports that hospitals in Cebu have reportedly refused to accept COVID-19 patients due to scarcity in beds.
READ MORE: Cebu City hospitals run out of beds for COVID-19 patients
The most recent documented case involved a worker from Naga City Hall who, after being confirmed to have the infection, was rejected multiple times by private hospitals, and remained waitlisted for admission in a government hospital in Cebu City.
READ MORE: With COVID hospitals ‘full’; Naga patient awaits transfer
In a statement issued to the media, Dr. Jaime Bernadas, director of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH – 7), said they have tapped the help of private hospitals for the much-needed expansion following these developments.
“Social media posts have pointed out a few cases where patients were refused admission in private hospitals due to hospitals were already full. We have investigated these reports and established that these incidents were true,” Bernadas said.
“DOH – 7 has already reached out to private hospitals to look for mechanisms where the capacity for COVID-19 cases will be expanded. The major private hospitals in Metro Cebu have committed to the expansion of their capacity to an average of 30 percent from their existing capacity,” he added.
The DOH-7 top official also vowed that their agency will be deploying additional manpower in hospitals and that they are also looking to increase the capacity of isolation centers for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.
“The expansion in hospital capacity will cater to severe to critical cases of COVID-19. This will have to be matched by the presence of facilities that will cater to cases that are manifesting only mild symptoms. Facilities for isolation will also have to be expanded in Metro Cebu to cater to asymptomatic cases. For mild symptoms, there are now three facilities that will have a combined capacity of 338 isolation beds,” said Bernadas. /bmjo
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