ILOILO City – Private hospitals in Western Visayas committed to allot more beds for cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), according to the Department of Health (DOH).
They pledged a seven-percent increase in the next four weeks, said Dr. Jocelyn Te, DOH Region 6 spokesperson.
There are 36 private hospitals in the region. So far, eight have submitted written commitments for the increase.
“Nakita man nila ang need,” said Te.
Currently, the region’s total bed allotment for COVID-19 cases is 268.
As for the occupancy rate of the region’s Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facility/ies (TTMF), as of Aug. 23 there were a total of 3,148 beds, of which 960 were occupied while 2,388 were still available.
Two private hospitals recently announced they would temporarily not accept new cases of COVID-19 for having reached “full capacity” already. They were Iloilo Mission Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital Iloilo, both in Iloilo City.
The DOH-retained hospital, Western Visayas Medical Center, also announced being on full capacity as to its COVID beds. It allotted 10 beds at its COVID ward and 86 beds at its isolation ward.
Other hospitals under DOH such as the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City, Don Jose Monfort Medical Center Extension Hospital in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo and Western Visayas Sanitarium in Santa Barbara are in “critical status” as to their COVID bed capacity./PN
