Rama addresses nurse shortage issues
Cebu City vice mayor Mike Rama | CDN Digital file
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama has directed City Health Department office-in-charge Jeffrey Ibones to look into available nurses of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) to augment other hospitals that lack medical personnel.
Rama made the directive after pictures of patients with oxygen tanks outside a private hospital in Cebu City went viral on social media on Sunday, August 1, 2021.
He clarified that the said hospital did not run out of hospital beds but only experienced shortage of medical staff.
“Check how we can assist them. Check with CCMC if we have available nurses just in the meantime to augment them,” Rama told Ibones.
Rama also said he would call all hospital owners in the city and ask them to be part of the solution in the fight against this recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
Based on the latest data of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), as of Sunday, August 1, 2021, Cebu City logged a total of 415 new COVID cases, bringing the total number of active cases to 2,942. It also recorded additional 11 deaths, bringing the total number to 933.
Councilor and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Deputy Chief Implementer Joel Garganera, for his part, said that out of the 15 hospitals in the city that totals 1,023 COVID beds, 580 of these are occupied (56.7 percent), while 443 remain available.
Garganera said of the 15 hospitals, two of which are critical, which means they have 90 percent occupancy rate, while seven are safe, and three each are in high risks and moderate state.
He also disclosed that the city now has a 20.7 percent positivity rate but stressed that under the Cebu City Quarantine Center (CCQC), they still have at least 51 beds that are unoccupied and 203 beds available in the Barangay Isolation Centers (BIC). There are also 61 beds available in hotels.
Garganera said that they will be opening soon BICs in three barangays: Sergio Osmena, Talamban, and Banilad, as well as two or more in hotels.
Meanwhile, Garganera reported that there were 69 COVID-patients who died in the month of July, which is four times higher compared to what was recorded in the month of June with 14.
He added that only five out of the 80 barangays have no reported COVID-19 transmission in the last 10 days. He, however, has yet to name these barangays.
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