THE Southern Philippines Medical Center has already sent a team to train the staff at the Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Drug Dependents in Malagos, Davao City, one of the facilities identified by the local government of Davao to house excess patients under investigation (PUIs) for coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
SPMC Chief of Clinic and Health Emergency Management Bureau (HEMB) coordinator Ricardo Audan told SunStar Davao on Friday, March 20, that the SPMC personnel assigned at the isolation facility are the ones to train the staff at the rehab center on how to handle the PUIs to prepare them once their facility will be used.
He said SPMC is starting to be overwhelmed by the number of PUIs. As of Friday, they recorded a total of 22 PUIs admitted to their facility. SPMC’s isolation facility, which can only accommodate six patients, is already full. They have utilized their intensive care unit (ICU) rooms and private wards to cater to the rising number of PUIs.
In an advisory from the City Government issued last week, the city said only the SPMC can accommodate PUIs and Covid-19 positive patients.
“LGU Davao City will not allow private hospitals to take in PUI and Covid-19 positive patients. We will first exhaust SPMC,” the advisory read.
After the SPMC will be exhausted, Malagos Rehab, Boy Scout of the Philippines (BSP) Camp in Malagos, and the Alternative Learning System (ALS) schools will be used to accommodate the PUIs in the city.
“Hospitals, (if) you have suspected Covid-19 patients please prepare the details, if you need a transport vehicle or ambulance (critical patients only) to be transferred to SPMC,” the advisory added.
Meanwhile, Audan said after they acquired the testing kits for SPMC, they already began gathering samples and testing of their patients in their facility to detect immediately whether they are positive for the infectious disease.
He, however, said that only SPMC chief Dr. Leopoldo Vega is authorized to divulge the laboratory results of the patients.