THE Iloilo provincial government is boosting the capacity of its healthcare facilities to respond to the surge in Covid-19 cases and the advent of new variants.
Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. said the province will establish Covid-19 critical care units in Level 1 hospitals to capacitate them in treating severe or critical Covid-19 patients.
“This is still part of the development of Level 1 hospitals and also an emergency response in anticipation of possible effects of the Delta variant,” he said.
The Iloilo Provincial Hospital and all other district hospitals will increase their Covid-19 bed capacity to 50 percent to 70 percent. More doctors, nurses, and other hospital personnel will be hired and additional medical equipment and supplies will be procured to cater to the elevated Covid-19 bed capacity.
The province will also maximize the referral of non-Covid patients who can be treated by the provincial and district hospitals. This is to decongest its tertiary hospital partners such as the Western Visayas Medical Center, West Visayas State University Medical Center, and Western Visayas Sanitarium.
Accommodation establishments are being developed into step-down facilities for Covid-19 patients to decongest the tertiary hospitals so they can concentrate on severe or critical patients from other provinces.
“We have engaged an accommodation establishment and equip it like the way we equip our temporary treatment and monitoring facility (TTMF) at the Iloilo Sports Complex so that it can be a step-down facility. We will provide ambulance, personnel, equipment, and supply,” the governor said.
The province will continue to provide support to the municipal/city health offices in terms of personnel, facilities, equipment, and medical supplies.
“We will be providing tanks, PPEs, as well as the augmentation of vaccinators and contact tracers and other assistance needed by the MHOs,” he said.
These measures, of which some have already been implemented, were capsulized in Executive Order (EO) No. 325 issued by the governor on August 18, 2021.
“The objective of this executive order is the dynamic escalation and de-escalation of the capacities of our healthcare facilities from the municipal health office to our TTMF up to the tertiary hospitals,” Defensor said.
The EO also aligns with the Department of Health Department Memorandum No. 2021-0327 on Interim Guidelines on Covid-19 Surge Response Plan for Health Care Facilities. (PR)