MANILA, Philippines — Due to the continuous surge of COVID-19 infections in the country, some hospitals in the Metro announced on Monday that they would no longer accept COVID-19 patients for the meantime after reaching full capacity status for their COVID-19 wards.
The hospitals that have declared full occupancy were:
- St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City
- St. Luke’s Medical Center Quezon City
- The Medical City
- Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center
- Asian Hospital and Medical Center
- Commonwealth Hospital and Medical Center
- Allied Care Expert Medical Center Quezon City
- National Kidney and Transplant Institute
In an advisory, St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) said that as of 11 a.m., their COVID-19 ward and ICU units in Taguig and Quezon City had reached full capacity.
The hospital management said it would still accept non-COVID-19 cases, “both outpatient and inpatient.”
On Wednesday, the SLMC has reiterated that the COVID-19 wards and ICUs of its hospitals in Taguig and Quezon City remain at full capacity.
They also added that despite converting more hospital beds to critical care beds, the emergency room (ER) “has also reached full capacity with a significant number of COVID-19 patients waiting to be admitted.”
“We appeal to COVID-19 patients who need immediate treatment to go to other healthcare institutions that can accommodate them for the time being,” SLMC said in the advisory.
The Medical City also said their ER, floors, and ICU units have reached full capacity.
“As we have established our ONE complex, TWO systems configuration for both COVID and non-COVID patients, our non-COVID patients have clearly delineated pathways and will continue to accommodate accordingly,” the hospital announced in a social media post.
The hospital said it is closely monitoring the situation with the local government of Pasig City.
The Medical City Advisory | March 22, 2021 pic.twitter.com/U09H5QXy6Z
— The Medical City (@TheMedicalCity) March 22, 2021
The Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center in Manila posted a public notice Monday afternoon which said: “Please be informed that our COVID ER, WARDS, and ICU have reached its full capacity as of today.”
“We can only accept NON-COVID In-patient and Out-patient effective March 22, 2021,” the hospital added.
Around noon, the Asian Hospital and Medical Center located in Alabang, Muntinlupa, made a similar announcement.
“Please be informed that we have reached FULL CAPACITY for our COVID-19 wards. Thus, we are advising all suspect, probable, and confirmed COVID-19 patients to seek urgent care in other institutions in the meantime,” said Asian Hospital and Medical Center.
Despite this, the hospital will continue to provide care for non-COVID patients. Their online appointments and eConsults will also remain available.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Hospital and Medical Center in Novaliches said their emergency and outpatient department (OPD) would still be open to provide immediate treatment despite having a full capacity for COVID-19 admission.
Based on the March 20 data from DOH, 30 out of 150 hospitals in Metro Manila were at the critical status in bed capacity solely for COVID-19 patients, while 22 were listed under the high-risk status.
Of the hospitals under critical status, 13 have already reached 100 percent bed occupancy.
READ: COVID-19 bed capacity: 30 of 150 NCR hospitals under critical status — DOH
The Department of Health (DOH) Monday reported that the country hit a new all-time high in its single-day increase of COVID-19 cases with 8,019, bringing the nationwide total case count to 671,792.
Of the tally, 80,970 are active cases, while a total of 561,530 patients survived. Around 12,887 succumbed to the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
READ: PH’s new all-time high: 8,019 fresh COVID-19 cases
The Allied Care Expert Medical Center in Quezon City (ACEMC-QC) on Tuesday informed the public that their COVID-19 Isolation Unit and ICU units have reached full capacity.
However, ACEM-QC said they will offer “full service” for non-COVID-19 cases, both outpatient and inpatient.
On Wednesday, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) also stated that their designated beds for COVID-19 patients are all fully occupied.
“Despite our continuous efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees, we still recorded a significant increase in the number of infection rate among health care workers, particularly with our frontline personnel, in the last two (2) weeks,” NKTI said in an advisory posted on their official Facebook page.
“Consequently, we humbly request the public and other health care facilities to refer their critically ill, probable, or suspected COVID-19 patients to other health care facilities for immediate care and management,” the advisory read.
Still, the hospital’s emergency room (ER) staff can acutely manage renal emergency cases as well as the post kidney transplant patients.
Based on the March 23 data from DOH, 43 out of 152 hospitals in Metro Manila were at the critical status in bed capacity solely for COVID-19 patients, while 19 were listed under the high-risk status.
Of the hospitals under critical status, 15 have already reached 100 percent bed occupancy.