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Friday, March 29, 2024

NKTI, PGH emergency rooms overfilled

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Emergency rooms of two big government hospitals have seen a deluge of non-COVID-19 patients over the past week, forcing them to open other facilities or direct patients with non-life-threatening conditions to other medical facilities.

The National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) has opened its gymnasium to accommodate its usual dialysis patients, as its emergency room, which could hold up to 40 patients, received as many as 158 admissions in recent days or over four times its capacity, a hospital official said Tuesday.

“There are too many patients here, (especially) in the last three days of the past week,” NKTI Deputy Executive Director for Hospital Support Services Dr. Joseph Jaro said during a television interview.

The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) has also temporarily halted its elective procedures after its emergency room exceeded its capacity, its spokesperson said Tuesday.

In an interview on Laging Handa, Dr. Jonas del Rosario said the hospital’s emergency room is currently housing 150 patients, most of which are non-COVID patients, exceeding its 70-bed capacity.

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PGH is thus only accepting patients with life and limb-threatening emergencies.

“Because of this, we have this so-called code triage where we only accept life and limb-threatening emergencies,” del Rosario said.

“Right now, we also stopped accommodating elective procedures so we can focus on the emergencies,” he added.

The Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center also reported non-COVID-19 patients filling their emergency room over the past few days.

Jaro stressed that the majority of NKTI’s 158 patients were dialysis patients, and only eight of them were infected with COVID-19 and were already transferred to their COVID-19 unit.

“It is difficult. We have beds and wheelchairs in the hallway. Those who were having a hard time were placed in beds, but many of the patients were in wheelchairs,” he said.

Because of this, Jaro said the hospital had to reopen NKTI’s gym and transfer at least 20 patients there just to cater to their medical needs.

“We think that these are patients who are suffering because, at the height of COVID, they did not want to leave the house out of fear of getting COVID-19. Dialysis patients are very high morbidity patients and some of them are diabetic and hypertensive,” he added.

Jaro noted that only 55 patients remain in NKTI’s emergency room after seeking help from other hospitals and discharging other patients.

He also called on registered nurses to apply to a government hospital such as NKTI, as they are currently in need of 90 nurses to work immediately.

“We invite nurses to work here at the Kidney Institute. The salary in the government is good and you have a career path here,” he said.

The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) had said the incoming Marcos administration should look into implementing the proposed Philippine Nursing Act, which would equalize the pay of nurses in public and private hospitals.

An increasing number of Filipino healthcare workers are heading overseas for higher wages.

At PGH, most ER patients are suffering from pneumonia, diabetes, heart diseases, lung diseases, kidney diseases, accidents, and trauma, according to Del Rosario.

The PGH spokesperson said they are monitoring their wards where 10 to 15 beds have been added.

“Every day we ensure that we maximize the bed capacity inside the hospital so some patients will be accepted,” he said.

The spokesman said PGH is also coordinating with other hospitals on the possible transfer of patients.

Del Rosario advised the public to call the National Patient Navigation and Referral Center, previously the One Hospital Command Center, at 1555 to determine if they can be admitted to the PGH.

“Our advice is if your condition is not severe or if it is not a serious emergency, please go to your local hospital or secondary provincial hospital instead,” he said.

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