More hospitals in Negros Occidental are no longer accepting patients due to lack of COVID-19 allocated beds and manpower.
The Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City issued an advisory Sept. 11 that its allocated COVID-19 isolation beds already reached maximum capacity.
The Riverside Medical Center, also in Bacolod, announced that same day that it will no longer accept patients for OB pre-term and critical cases, as well as pediatric critical cases, due to lack of personnel.
Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said the Valladolid District Hospital COVID-19 allocated beds were fully occupied and 80 percent of the 80 beds for COVID patients at the Cadiz District Hospital also used.
“As much as we want to cater to all COVID-19 patients who are moderate to critical, the hospital is adamant due to the various constraints, such as the availability of manpower and beds,” the advisory issued by the CLMMRH said.
For patients from other local government units and referring hospitals, the CLMMRH management strongly advises to call first the COVID-19 hotlines, including (034) 7031350, 09171007093, or 7017865, to ensure the availability of beds prior to transport to avoid patient traffic in the Emergency Room, it added.
Although the situation is fluid, there is a slow turnover of isolation beds due to the processing of RT-PCR swabs at the molecular laboratory and there is an increasing number of walk-in patients, although the hospital strives to ensure that the operation at the ER is managed as efficient as possible, it added.
The hospital management strongly recommended that other hospitals be considered for patient evaluation and management, for the time being.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the construction of the Cadiz District Hospital annex building, which can accommodate 70 more beds, is expected to be completed within this month.
The active COVID-19 cases, meanwhile, rose to 1,645, as of Sept. 11, from about 600 last month, and Lacson attributed the increase to the local transmission of the highly-infectious Delta variant. — GB
