BAGUIO CITY – The administration of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) admitted that the premier tertiary hospital in Northern Luzon is already overcrowded because of the influx of both outpatients and inpatients seeking quality medical treatment of their respective illnesses.
Dr. Emanuel Acluba, BGHMC chief, said the hospital was designed to be a 500-bed capacity medical center but they now cater to the medical needs of more than 510 inpatients and over 1,200 outpatients daily that is the primary cause of congestions inside the medical facility.
“We are now implementing appropriate strategies to decongest the hospital and implement the needed expansion projects to be able to cater to the various medical needs of patients seeking medical attention from the hospital,” Acluba told the members of the city council during last Monday’s regular session.
The BGHMC official said one of the strategies that were put in place is the so-called referral system where patients are assessed of the gravity of their illnesses and if found to be minor cases, they are referred to the different local health facilities but when their cases are serious, then they have no option but to admit the patients for confinement.
On the other hand, Acluba requested the assistance of the city government on how the informal settlers in the 26-hectare hospital property will be dealt with accordingly so that the health department will be able to implement the required expansion projects in order to accommodate the medical needs of the growing number of people seeking medical treatment.
He added at this time, the hospital only occupies 2.5 hectares of the 27-hyectare hospital reservation, thus, the construction of more buildings in order to accommodate more patients and units of equipment to deal with complicated illnesses can be accommodated for the benefit of better health care.
Aside from the upgraded dialysis center set up and the availability of state-of-the-art units of medical equipment to cater to the treatment of complicated illnesses, Acluba announced the health department earmarked funds for the purchase of high technology cancer treatment machines to allow the facility to treat cancer patients in the locality so that they will no longer go down to Metro Manila to seek advanced medical treatment.
He cited the need of the government to reclaim most of the 26-hectare hospital reservation so that the health department could immediately implement urgent development projects necessary to improve its delivery of basic health care services for the rapidly increasing number of patients seeking medical attention in the city.
According to him, city officials should be elated that most patients from the lowlands would like to seek medical treatment in the city because of its good climate thereby contributing in the robust growth of the local tourism industry considering that people come here to spend while having their patients given medical treatment from the hospital facilities.
He appealed to local officials to help the BGHMC administration deal with the informal settlers for the hospital to be able to pursue its desired expansion projects that were already given sufficient funding in order to continuously uplift the status of the BGHMC as a tertiary hospital and training and research center.
By Dexter A. See
