The deployment of three teams of military doctors, nurses and medical aids may have been not enough as Mayor Evelio Leonardia has requested more nurses and other health care workers to be fielded to Bacolod City private hospitals.
Leonardia said that Bacolod hospitals need six doctors for the Midway Referral Facility, 288 nurses for the city’s emergency treatment center and isolation facilities, 18 radiology technicians, 26 medical technologists, 24 respiratory therapists, and 30 housekeeping staff.
In his letter to Secretary Carlito Galvez, chief implementer of the National Action Plan Against COVID-19, Leonardia said the deployment of 392 health care workers will address the serious shortage of medical personnel in private hospitals.
“The serious shortage of nurses and healthcare workers, especially in private hospitals, is still a problem. In this connection, may I, therefore, humbly request for your assistance by providing us the additional personnel required to capacitate and enable the full operation of hospital isolation units,” Leonardia said in his letter.
He added that the availability of functional hospital isolation rooms remains to be “the biggest challenge” for Bacolod as it continues its contact tracing and targeted testing to identify and isolate COVID-19 cases.
The three teams of military doctors, nurses and medical aids sent by the AFP Central Command in Cebu, who arrived last week, are now stationed at the Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital and Dr. Pablo O. Torre Medical Center in Bacolod City.
As of October 4, there were already 154 admitted COVID-19 patients in Bacolod hospitals, making the capacity utilization rate reach 77 percent.
Meanwhile, PCol. Manuel Placido, newly-assigned officer-in-charge of the Bacolod City Police Office, said that he will allocate 20 to 30 percent of the entire city police force to help the campaign against the spread of COVID-19 contact tracers.*NWI
