While city gov’t dawdles: Oro hospitals are bursting at the seams

By Pat Jared V. Pangantihon
Correspondent

PRIVATE hospitals in Cagayan de Oro are bursting at the seams. The hospitals are already at full bed capacity due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in the city and Misamis Oriental.

Velma Rugay, Admin Head of Cagayan de Oro Medical Center, confirmed in a phone interview that they are at full bed capacity and are not accepting new patients anymore.

“As a private hospital, we are not allowed to still take in patients if we do not have available beds for them,” she said.

As for the Polymedic Plaza Hospital, Dr. George Michael Lim, corporate chief nursing officer, told Gold Star Daily in an interview that their hospital is also at full capacity.

He said that they utilize an “accordion-type” of response to convert the hospital’s available areas to separate the Covid-19 patients from the non-Covid-19 ones.

“We are helping the community to cater, but mo abot gyud ma puno ang area,” he lamented.

Another hospital, Madonna and Child Hospital, is also at full capacity. They are currently understaffed and some staff is under quarantine. They have implemented decking, in which patients with severe cases are prioritized.

“Kung makaya ra i-home quarantine, for mild to moderate cases, and gina treat sa physicians kung makaya ra sa balay,” Anthony Samson Cayetuna, IV, the hospital’s chief nurse, said.

Capitol University Medical Center has posted on its social media page an advisory that it will no longer accept patients of either Covid-19 or non-Covid-19.

As for the government-run hospitals in the city, the City Information Office declared that there are already 734 Covid-19 patients in Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) and in private hospitals in the city as of August 10.

Of the 734 Covid patients, 253 are at the Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases Diseases (Ereid) and the city’s Ereid counterpart in NMMC, while 481 are in private hospitals. Covid-19 patients at the Ereid and Cereid in NMMC are as follows: 174 are from Cagayan de Oro, 63 from Misamis Oriental, and 16 from other parts of Northern Mindanao.

Some 481 Covid-19 patients are admitted in private hospitals, where 458 are from Cagayan de Oro, 16 from Misamis Oriental, and seven from other parts of Northern Mindanao.

The city government’s strategy of quarantine measures and efforts to quickly identify, isolate Covid-19 carriers, and contact-tracing have been wanting in curbing the surge of the virus in the city as seen in its own daily updates.

However, Mayor Oscar Moreno is still calling out that the solution lies with the residents of the city, by following the minimum public health standards, be vaccinated, and by staying at home.