St. Luke’s hospitals see shorter lines in ER but remain full capacity for COVID patients

MANILA, Philippines – Despite shorter lines in its emergency rooms, St. Luke’s Medical Center remains at full capacity for COVID-19 patients, its chief medical officer Dr. Benjamin Campomanes Jr. said Tuesday.

“Ang nakita namin sa ground is although full capacity pa rin kami don’t misinterpret that pero ang nahalata namin is ‘yung mga pila namin sa ER for mild to moderate eh nabawasan,” Campomanes said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo when asked on the effect of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) over the so-called NCR Plus.

(What we saw on the ground, is although we are still in full capacity, don’t misinterpret that but what we noticed is our queues in the ER for mild to moderate have been reduced.)

“So dati pati upuan namin may mga pasyente, ngayon nasa loob na sila at nakakayanan na namin ‘yung pagdating ng mga pasyente dahil sa palagay ko ‘yung mild and moderate nasa bahay na sila,” he added.

(So we used to have patients in our seats, now they are inside and we can handle the arrival of patients because I think the mild and moderate ones are already at home.)

Campomanes attributed the decrease in patients lining up to the government’s effort in opening more COVID-19 facilities and due to some patients opting for consultation via telemedicine than going to hospitals.

St. Luke’s hospitals in Quezon City and Taguig City only accept moderate to critical COVID-19 patients, Campomanes said.

He also noted that St. Luke’s hospitals still do not accept reservations for any COVID-19 patient.

Individuals admitted for the coronavirus may be billed from P200,000 to P1 million depending on the case.

“Ang warning talaga is mabuti pa ‘wag ka magkakasakit [it is better not get sick],” Campomanes said. – Liezelle Soriano Roy, INQUIRER.net trainee

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