Photo from The Medical City Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — The Medical City (TMC) in Pasig has reached its full capacity of beds allocated for coronavirus disease 2019 patients as of July 14, Tuesday.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the hospital asked COVID-19 patients, particularly those who are critically ill, to consider going to other healthcare institutions for treatment.
“We are fully aware that this is a looming problem, but we cannot go beyond our capacity to take care of COVID-19 patients without posing serious risks to everyone — both the patients (COVID and non-COVID) and our hospital staff,” it said.
“We also do not wish to compromise service to our general patients, who have no less serious medical needs and now comprise majority of our case load,” the hospital added.
“We appeal for your understanding and recommend considering other institutions for critically-ill COVID-19 patients,” it further said.
The hospital management said it is currently coordinating with the city government to manage COVID-19 patients, adding that it is “ready to facilitate endorsement if and when it can.”
It likewise assured patients that the quality of care “remains uncompromised.”
“We empathize with the COVID patients but we are just as committed to provide quality services and secure the facilities strictly fo non-COVID-19 cases,” TMC said.
On Monday alone, several private hospitals have declared full capacity for COVID-19 patients and could no longer admit infected individuals.
Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega earlier said critical care capacity for intensive care unit (ICU) beds in the country has reached its “danger zone.”
To date, the Philippines has 57,006 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 20,371 recoveries and 1,599 deaths.