KALIBO, Aklan – To ensure healthcare services at the Dr. Rafael S. Tumbokon Memorial Hospital (DRSTMH), Gov. Florencio Miraflores ordered all low-risk healthcare staff to report to work.
DRSTMH is the referral facility for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.
Miraflores based his order on the risk assessment of hospital personnel to determine who are eligible to work in COVID-19 wards and intensive care unit (ICU).
All low-risk doctors, nurses, nursing attendants and utility workers, except for department heads, are redeployed to frontline positions to manage patients with essential routine care needs in COVID-19 wards and ICU.
As of Nov. 8, the Aklan provincial hospital was treating four COVID-19 patients – these were older people with underlying health conditions.
The “underutilized” medical workforce will complement Aklan provincial hospital’s staff previously assigned in isolation wards, according to Miraflores.
Although COVID-19 cases are low, work must be shared to manage the strain on the healthcare system, exhaustion, fatigue and emotional distress experienced by the medical staff, he added.
The DRSTMH PPE (personal protective equipment) committee reiterated the importance of donning (putting on) and doffing (taking off) buddy system for healthcare professionals.
The hospital also conducts regular reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction testing as a responsive approach to monitor healthcare workers’ COVID-19 exposure.
In September, 30 healthcare workers contracted COVID-19, resulting to the mandatory disinfection of Aklan provincial hospital facilities./PN
