The city’s hospital critical care utilization rate dropped to low risk from last week’s medium risk following the consistent decline in the number of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) being recorded in the city over the past several weeks.
City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo disclosed that the current hospital critical care utilization rate among the existing private and public hospitals in the city dropped to 59.2 percent from the previous week’s slightly over 63 percent.
Saint Louis University (SLU) Hospital of the Sacred Heart, which is a 120-bed capacity, recorded a 150 percent hospital critical care utilization followed by the Pines City Doctors, which has a 110-bed capacity, with 100 percent, Notre Dame de Chartres Hospital, which has a 125-bed capacity which reported a 68 percent utilization rate, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC), which has a 600-bed capacity, with a 56 percent utilization rate, while the 24-bed Baguio Medical Center (BMC) has not yet been occupied.
On the other hand, Galpo reported that the bed occupancy of the different isolation units that were established around the city dropped to 16.3 percent from last week’s 23.7 percent.
Further, the city health officer claimed that the demand for oxygen by the different health facilities and isolation units had drastically dropped following the decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases, thus, the city has already stable supply of oxygen for the future needs of patients.
The Baguio Teachers Camp Roxas and Romulo halls recorded the highest occupancy rate of 18 percent, followed by the Baguio City Community Isolation Unit based at the former Sto. Nino hospital which registered a 16.3 percent occupancy rate, Laurel Dorm 2 – 14.85 percent occupancy rate, Ferionni apartment – 10 percent while the Baguio Teachers Camp Magsaysay Hall and central triage facility registered no occupancy to date.
The city government already gave up the use of the Baguio Teachers Camp Hernandez Hall as an isolation facility and was replaced with the use of the staff house, Quirino and Romulo Halls to cater to the needs of the COVID-19 patients who are required to undergo isolation during the recent surge in cases triggered by the more infectious Delta variant.
Moreover, the Baguio Teachers Camp management had assured the availability of the Escoda Hall in case the existing isolation facilities had been filled up during the surge in cases over the past several months but the same remains unused following the recent decline in cases over the past several weeks that helped in decongesting the hospitals and isolation centers.
The Baguio City Community Isolation Unit has a total bed capacity of 350 followed by the Baguio Teachers Camp Roxas, Romulo and Magsaysay Halls have a combined bed capacity of 427, Laurel Dorm – 101 beds, central triage quarantine facility – 12 and Ferionni Apartment – 30 beds.
Galpo expressed hope that the continuous decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases will go on in the coming weeks to help in reducing the occupancy of the different health facilities and isolation units in the city to avid the same from being compromised and the frontliners unduly stressed in case that there will be future surges in cases that will be triggered by the prevailing variants of concern. By Dexter A. See
