The City Health Services Office (CHSO) disclosed that the hospital critical care utilization rate of the different private and public health facilities in the city remain to be critical because of the continuous surge in the number of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases daily due to the emergence of the more infectious Delta variant.
City Health Officer Dr. Rowena P. Galpo stated that the current hospital critical care utilization rate in the city has been pegged at 98.18 percent which is close to full occupancy.
Last week, the hospital critical care utilization rate in the city was pegged at 100.52 percent based on the reports from the different private and public hospitals operating in the city.
Pines City Doctors Hospital reported the highest hospital critical care utilization rate of 400 percent followed by Notre Dame de Chartres Hospital – 200 percent, Baguio Medical Center – 162 percent, Saint Louis University (SLU) Hospital of the Sacred Heart – 100 percent and Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) – 94 percent.
On the other hand, the bed occupancy of the isolation units in the city was estimated to be 65.76 percent where 605 beds out of the 979 available beds are now occupied.
The city’s central triage quarantine facility reported the highest occupancy rate at 75 percent followed by the Baguio Teachers Camp Roxas and Romulo Halls – 68 percent, Baguio City Community Isolation Unit – 67 percent, Laurel dorm 2 – 58.51 percent, Ferionni Apartments – 46.67 percent and Baguio Teachers Camp – Magsaysay Hall – 10 percent.
The Baguio Teachers Camp Roxas and Romulo Halls have a combined bed capacity of 417 followed by the Baguio City Community Isolation Unit – 350, Laurel dorm 2 – 101, Ferionni apartments – 30, city central triage quarantine facility – 12 and the Baguio Teachers Camp Magsaysay Hall – 10.
Of the total number of available beds, the Baguio Teachers Camp Roxas and Romulo Halls reported the highest occupancy with 286 beds that are occupied followed by the Baguio City Community Isolation Unit – 235, Laurel Dorm 2 – 59, Ferionni apartments – 14, city central triage quarantine facility – 9 and Baguio Teachers Camp Magsaysay Hall – 1.
At present, the Baguio City Community Isolation Unit based at the former Sto. Nin֮o Hospital is being utilized as a step up and step down facility aside from serving as a staging area for COVID-19 cases awaiting the availability of their beds in the various private and public hospitals in the city.
Galpo appealed to the people to sustain their compliance to the minimum public health standards such as the wearing of face masks and shields, observance of physical distancing and the practice of personal hygiene and disinfection to prevent them from contracting the deadly virus and to help in avoiding the further surge in cases that could lead to the local health care system being overwhelmed and the frontliners unduly stressed.
She admitted that home isolation is now being allowed for patients who are able to pass the prescribed criteria to help in reducing the number of individuals being brought to the health facilities and isolation units so as not to contribute in the congestions in the said areas and for them to be able to recover from the illness with the monitoring of the members of the barangay health emergency teams (BHERTs). By Dexter A. See
