ACT-CIS Partylist Representative Niña Taduran
Photo File/THEPHILBIZNEWS
By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
Seeing the optimized capacity of the hospitals in Metro Manila that could not accommodate any COVID patients anymore, ACT-CIS Partylist Representative and House Assistant Majority Leader Niña Taduran asked the Department of Health and the Local Government Units to act swiftly by expediting the transfer of COVID19 patients who are now in Metro Manila.
Speaking to THEPHILBIZNEWS, Congresswoman Taduran said, “At this point in time, we know that the hospitals in Metro Manila cannot accept COVID patients anymore. With the growing number of cases that are recorded every day, this should not lead to unnecessary analysis-paralysis, but rather a decisive move from our Health authorities under the tutelage of Secretary Francisco Duque III. We cannot afford to be complacent because thousands of lives are at stake here.”
“Do we have to wait for the time when our situation is no longer controllable? Why do they always resort to firefighting management?”, a visibly irked Taduran said.
As early as mid-July, several hospitals in Metro Manila have already informed the public that they cannot accommodate such as St. Luke’s Medical Center, Makati Medical Center (MMC), Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and even the government hospitals like National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) as they have reached the ‘danger zone’ in the usage of its “designated bed capacity for COVID-19 patients as early as July 13. Even St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) said its COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) beds in both Quezon City and Global City branches are already filled.
“The DOH has the so-called One Hospital System and the Local Government Unit heads should start coordinating with the authorities,” Taduran explained.
“Through this system, all the hospitals and other medical facilities in Metro Manila can be unclogged of patients infected with the virus. They have to be proactive instead of waiting for the availability of the quarantine centers or hospitals to accommodate them. Right now, the most important is for these COVid patients to be given proper medical attention, not at home but in proper facilities. It’s not good if we will not think outside the box. This is a crisis and we need to act fast and prevent the crisis from causing further problems in the country,” Taduran added.
“If we insist on holding these patients in Metro Manila and wait for the available slots for them to be given the medical attention they need, then we are also jeopardizing the lives of our healthcare workers. We have lost many lives already and we cannot afford to risk them again by our inaction. That is the reason why I am making a distress call to explore all avenues that would address and abate the rising cases of COVID19 in the country,” Taduran noted.
“I have heard of severely ill patients waiting in the Emergency Room for days because COVID rooms or the ICU are full. Some are even forced to wait at home even if they need to be attended to in a hospital. Others who do not know anyone from the hospital are not even admitted in the emergency room,” Taduran added.
“I hope the DOH will do something about this in the soonest possible time before it is too late. That is to find more sources for medicines like Tocilizumab which hospitals are running out of. Also, the DOH should aggressively promote the drive for blood donation. We need to save lives and we can’t afford to take it sitting down,” the ACT-CIS Partylist Representative concluded.