Dialysis centers told to serve clients with COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — Dialysis centers should not turn away patients with COVID-19, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said, adding that there were measures they could take to prevent infection while providing treatment to these individuals. There have been complaints that dialysis centers have refused to provide service to COVID-19 patients, Duque said. “We pity these patients. It cannot be that [the dialysis centers] would turn their backs on them just because they have COVID. We have infection prevention control measures,” he said. The staff could wear personal protective equipment while treating the patients, he said. Duque also said that these dialysis centers’ warranties of accreditation with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. prohibited them from rejecting these patients. “It’s well within the rights of the patients, in their exercise of their benefit availments, to be attended to,” he added.

—Leila B. Salaverria