Metro Manila hospitals unable to cope with Covid-19 surge

MANILA: Hospitals in Metro Manila continue to grapple with the surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases, with some forced to turn away patients seeking treatment in overflowing emergency rooms, according to the head of the country’s largest private hospital group.

Early this week, the Department of Health (DoH) reported 9,296 new infections, the fifth straight day that cases reached more than 10,000.

Because of the rising number of cases, 76 percent of intensive care unit (ICU) beds are occupied, and 68 percent of isolation beds and 59 percent of ward beds have been utilized in the National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila).

Dr. Jose Rene de Grano, president of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc., said most of these hospitals that are either full or almost full are located in urban areas in the so-called NCR Plus bubble — Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.

Increased hospital capacities were also reported in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Central Luzon, Cagayan Valley and Central Visayas regions.

“They are at the point of high-risk level of occupancy and others are now experiencing 85-percent occupancy),” de Grano said during the Laging Handa briefing.

He added that some hospitals have not reported to the Health department that in some instances, patients line up in emergency rooms for hours waiting for treatment.

De Grano did not say how many patients have been turned away or were waitlisted in ERs but said most hospitals are now near full capacity.

“’When a hospital said that its is almost full, we assume that it is now at 100 percent),” de Grano added.

The DoH has ordered private hospitals to increase their dedicated Covid-19 bed capacity, but some facilities cannot follow the order because they lack manpower, said de Grano.

“We are trying our best to comply with the increase in the capacity, but our resources are limited. We only have limited resources as it will depend on the number of staff that would man Covid cases. If the nursing staff is not enough, we cannot manage patients well, “ he added.

De Grano called on the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to assist them in the reimbursement of unpaid claims by private hospitals. He earlier said that PhilHealth owes hospitals some P6 billion.

The state insurer countered that P25 billion had been reimbursed to these hospitals.