LAOAG CITY—The Ilocos Sur Provincial Hospital-Gabriela Silang (ISPH-GS) had stopped accepting non-COVID-19 patients as the facility had hit a “critical risk” level, an official said.
Dr. Trina Talaga, ISPH-GS chief, said the provincial hospital would need to focus on responding to the “surge and need of COVID-19 patients.”
The Department of Health (DOH) tracker said on Monday, Sept. 6, that all the beds devoted to COVID-19 were occupied, including those in intensive care units.
In a television interview on Sept. 3, Talaga said the hospital’s COVID-19 bed capacity remained insufficient despite increasing it by at least five times so it could admit more patients.
At least 16 patients had to wait in line outside the premises of the emergency room on Sept. 4 due to the bed shortage, Talaga said.
On Sunday, the DOH said Ilocos Sur is one of the provinces outside the National Capital Region with the highest number of confirmed infections at 404.