WITH the increasing number of admitted Covid-19 patients at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), private hospitals have resumed accommodating Covid-patients, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said.
SPMC announced on Friday, January 21, that the hospital will only cater mainly to moderate to critical Covid-19 cases as cases in the city continue to spike.
Duterte-Carpio said in a radio interview on Monday, January 24, that almost all private hospitals in the city had started accepting paying Covid-19 patients.
The Davao City Government on October 29, 2021 issued Executive Order (EO) 60, Series of 2021, which designated SPMC as the lone Covid-19 referral hospital in Davao City because of the downtrend of active cases during that time.
But the mayor said Davao Doctors Hospital, despite the issuance of the EO, did not stop catering to Covid-19 patients.
"Because since our last surge, wala naghunong ang Davao Doctors Hospital sa pagdawat og (the Davao Doctors Hospital did not stop accepting) Covid-19 cases because some patients who can afford to pay for their hospital bill prefer to stay and to have themselves admitted to [the] Covid-19 referral hospital in Davao Doctors Hospital," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
She reiterated that whenever there is a surge, private hospitals must make available their Covid-19 beds.
Based on the Department of Health (DOH) guidelines, private hospitals must allocate 20 percent of their total bed capacities.
The SPMC announced on Monday, January 24, that its Institute for Women and Newborn Health Isolation Facilities has already maximized and exceeded its capacity to care for obstetrics and gynecology patients testing positive for Covid-19.
Patients are advised to contact the One Hospital Command Center for proper referral and coordination of patient transfer to the next available health facility.
As of January 23, SPMC's 422-ward beds are already 100 percent occupied, while its 87 bed-intensive care unit (ICU) beds (ICU) are already 73.56 percent utilized, or 64 beds are already being occupied.