PGH wants ER use limited to COVID-19 cases, critical non-COVID cases

Portion of two wards at UP-PGH dedicated to COVID-19 patients, which were finished in just five days. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) wants to limit the use of its emergency room (ER) to COVID-19 cases and non-COVID-19 critical cases.

PGH spokesperson Dr. Jonas del Rosario shared that they are currently experiencing a surge of ER patients for non-COVID cases after it allocated more wards amid declining COVID-19 infections.

“Ang problema kasi there are so many patients coming in, we cannot just easily them into the hospital as we still have old patients in the ER who need to be admitted first. Mabilis napuno ng non-COVID patients ‘yung PGH,” Del Rosario explained in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net.

(The problem is there are so many patients coming in. We cannot just easily move them into the hospital as we still have old patients in the ER who need to be admitted first. PGH was easily filled with non-COVID patients.)

“So, it will take a while to move these patients who are in the emergency room. So, if there’s a new batch of people coming in sa (in the) ER, we cannot accommodate them,” he added.

With the influx of patients, Del Rosario is advising the public that the PGH’s ER is “reserved for real emergencies.”

“Our emergency room is not closed. But, we just want to inform the public that it is reserved for real emergencies, life, and limb-threatening emergencies. And so, patients who are not critically ill should consult in our out-patient department,” he said.

“Kaya gusto namin (That’s why we wanted), the ones that are coming to the emergency room will be the, for now, the critical ones. The ones who really need to be in the emergency room para hindi na ma-crowd ‘yung ER (so the ER would not be crowded) ng mga (with) non-critical cases na (of) non-COVID,” the spokesman stressed.

However, as PGH is a COVID-19 referral hospital, Del Rosario said that they will continue to cater to COVID-19 patients.

“COVID, walang problema (no problem), that’s a priority. If there’s a COVID patient that needs to be admitted, definitely, we have a place for them,” he assured.

According to Del Rosario, patients who would not be admitted are waiting for an opening in PGH’s ward while others are being transferred to other hospitals.

He further pointed out that PGH just opened its new ER on Friday and is still in a state of transition. There are some areas that are still needed to be fixed to make it fully operational.

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