ILOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines — Hospitals in Iloilo and Bacolod cities have breached their bed capacity for patients with the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with some temporarily stopping the admission of patients due to the continued surge in cases.
Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) is no longer admitting patients due to the rising number of infected personnel and after reaching its full bed capacity.
‘Fatigue, exhaustion’
The private St. Paul’s Hospital of Iloilo (SPHI) also suspended admission of COVID-19 cases starting Aug. 19, and its obstetrics and gynecology (OB-GYN) services from Aug. 22 to 31.
“Our facilities for COVID-19 cases have reached full capacity and we can no longer accommodate new COVID cases for the time being,” it said in a statement.
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SPHI said the suspension of OB-GYN services in other hospitals had also overwhelmed the capacity of its services, noting that its residents-on-duty “can no longer operate at maximum capacity as practically all of them are suffering from fatigue and exhaustion.”
Iloilo Mission Hospital also announced last week that it would no longer accept COVID-19 cases after reaching full bed capacity.Dr. Jessie Glen Alonsabe, Western Visayas epidemiologist, said COVID-19 wards and isolation wards in the Department of Health (DOH)-retained hospitals were experiencing critical occupancy rates for beds allotted for COVID-19 patients.
Isolation wards cater to mild cases, while the COVID-19 wards are for moderate to severe cases.
Alonsabe said WVMC’s 10 beds for moderate and severe cases had already been filled, while its isolation ward was 82 percent occupied, or 71 of 86 beds.
Don Jose S. Monfort Medical Center Extension Hospital in Barotac Nuevo town, Iloilo province, has posted a 61.9-percent occupancy in its isolation ward, with 13 of its 21 beds occupied.
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