AT LEAST two out of 15 hospitals in Cebu City have hit above 90 percent in their occupancy rate or a critical level due to the influx of Covid-19 patients admitted in these medical facilities.
This was confirmed by City Councilor Joel Garganera, chief implementor of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Monday, Aug. 2, 2021.
Aside from the two private hospitals that are at critical level as they hit over 90 percent in their critical care utilization rate (CCUR), Garganera said three hospitals were at high risk (70-85 percent in occupancy rate); three were at moderate level (60-70 percent in occupancy rate); and seven were at a safe level (60 percent in occupancy rate). (Garganera did not give names of the hospitals.)
The occupancy rate of beds dedicated for Covid-19 patients in four public and 11 private hospitals in Cebu City has reached 56.7 percent, as 580 of the 1,023 beds were already occupied.
Only 483 hospital beds remain available for Covid-19 patients as of Aug. 2.
Alarming
The 413 new Covid-19 cases from 50 barangays recorded by the EOC on Sunday, Aug. 1, were considered by Garganera as alarming, saying the cases showed the city’s highest positivity rate recorded so far. In the last 10 days, the city recorded 20.7 percent in positivity rate, a far cry from the four to five percent daily positivity rate in the last few months. (The Department of Health 7 daily Covid-19 bulletin reported 415 new cases in Cebu City on Sunday.)
Cebu City recorded 69 deaths in July and 14 in June, said Garganera.
Department of Health (DOH) 7 Director Jaime Bernadas, in a separate interview, said his office does not receive the current CCUR of each private hospital in Cebu. The health official said the private hospitals submit their CCUR reports to the DOH central office. CCUR is a “figure that indicates the capacity of the healthcare system to handle severe cases,” the DOH says.
The CCUR of the entire Cebu island was at 54.3 percent for the intensive care unit (ICU) beds, 43.7 percent for Covid-19 beds, and 69.1 percent for isolation beds, Bernadas said.
As for the three highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, Bernadas reported that 55.4 percent was their combined CCUR for their ICU beds; 38.9 percent, Covid-19 beds; and 70 percent, isolation beds.
Also, Bernadas said the Cebu Province’s CCUR was at 50 percent for ICU beds; 57.3 percent, Covid-19 beds; and 63.2 percent, isolation beds.
Waiting patients
Amid the increasing Covid-19 cases in Cebu City, social media was flooded with images of patients on folding beds and oxygen support waiting outside Chong Hua Hospital near Fuente Osmeña Rotunda over the weekend. At least 33 patients inside ambulances and private cars waited to be accommodated by the hospital on Sunday night, Aug. 1.
Bernadas urged the Cebu City EOC to advise Covid-19 patients to seek treatment in other hospitals if they are not accepted by their hospital of choice.
Chong Hua Hospital added 10 ICU beds, and processed the admission of the queuing patients, Bernadas said.
The DOH 7 chief further said the hospital still has vacant beds for Covid-19 patients, but it lacks manpower to take care of the patients.
Acting Mayor Michael Rama said that while the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) has available beds that could help patients looking for accomodations, the hospital could not accept patients just yet since it lacks medical personnel to help serve them.
He is asking the DOH 7 to help provide additional healthcare workers for the city by tapping nurses from other regions.
Nurses needed
At least 400 registered nurses are needed to augment the medical frontliners in Central Visayas, but the health agency was able to recruit only 50 registered nurses. The difficult part for the DOH 7 is the recruitment of registered nurses because those who were not yet assigned to areas with high numbers of Covid-19 cases are afraid to work in isolation centers and hospitals.
The DOH 7 has tapped the help of the DOH central office to aid the medical workforce in Central Visayas. Also, Bernadas said he has discussed with Health Secretary Francisco Duque III about recruiting nurses who still have to take the board examination, but there is no decision on this yet.
He said the unregistered nurses will be deployed to the isolation centers while the registered nurses will be deployed to the hospitals.
Other developments
* In Cebu City, the Health Department reported that only five barangays out of the city’s 80 barangays had not recorded Covid-19 cases for the last 10 days.
* The vacant beds in Cebu City’s isolation centers: 51, Cebu City Quarantine Center; 203, barangay isolation centers (BIC).
* Soon to open BICs in Cebu City: Barangay Taptap (for patients from upper barangays), Barangay Labangon, Barangay Talamban and Barangay Banilad. A mega isolation center will rise at Cebu City Sports Center. (MVE, KFD, PAC)