Negros Occidental gov’t seeks DOH OK to open 3 field hospitals for COVID-19

BACOLOD CITY––The Negros Occidental provincial government is seeking permission from the Department of Health (DOH) to open up three field hospitals that will make about 1,000 beds available for COVID-19 patients.

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Thursday that the proposed field hospitals are the quarantine facilities in Silay City with close to 500 beds, Cadiz City (200 beds), and EB Magalona (300 beds), to address the surge in COVID-19 patients in Negros Occidental.

Negros Occidental’s active COVID-19 cases rose to 2,298 with 10 new deaths on Thursday, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported. That brings the COVID-19 deaths from Sept. 1 to 16 to 114.

“The proposed field hospitals will augment the COVID-19 designated Valladolid District Hospital that is 94-percent full and the Cadiz District Hospital that is 97-percent occupied,” Diaz said.

The provincial government is also speeding up the transformation of the Valeriano M. Gatuslao Memorial District Hospital in Himamaylan City into a COVID-19 center that would open up 75 more beds and the expansion of the Cadiz District Hospital.

Diaz said permission is needed so that health personnel could treat COVID-19 patients, who could no longer be accommodated at the designated hospitals of the province, in the field hospitals.

The Silay field hospital will be supervised by the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City, while the EB Magalona and Cadiz field hospitals will be under the Cadiz District Hospital.

The Valladolid District Hospital will also assist in caring for patients at the EB Magalona field hospital, Diaz added.

lzb