IN THE last three days, October 14 to 16, the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) reported an average of 835 admitted patients per day.
This is one of the highest census of the hospital since September, said Dr. Julius Drilon, in a press release Wednesday, October 17.
The hospital said its authorized bed capacity is only 400 beds. “However, it has been constantly accepting patients from various districts of Negros Occidental including Bacolod City which has the highest number of referrals for obstetrics and gynecology cases.”
This yielded an estimated bed occupancy rate of 207 to 213 percent, indicating the hospital has been admitting patients more than double of its authorized bed capacity.
The hospital said it created “overcrowding” in all areas which affected the healthcare service delivery of its departments.
“Bed sharing of two to four patients can be observed in the different wards of the hospital. Such increase in the number of admitted patients has a great impact on the financials of the institution as it doubles its expenditures even though the allocated budget for CLMMRH is only for 400-bed capacity,” the press release said.
The hospital said it is expecting an increasing trend in the admission of patients due to referrals from district hospitals and seasonal diseases that affect the community which include dengue and pneumonia.
The hospital is appealing to the public to have patience and understanding as they continue to strive hard in rendering quality medical care services to their patients.
“We are exhausting all measures to address this perennial issue which includes appealing to the central government to qualify our hospital as a 1,000-bed capacity with its corresponding budget allocation,” the hospital said.
A bill authored by Bacolod Representative Greg Gasataya creating CLMMRH as a 1,000-bed capacity was already approved by the House committee on health. (PR)