DOH pushes for psych wards in district hospitals

CEBU, Philippines -  To address cases of mental illness and decongest the only psychiatric ward in the region under the government-manned Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), the Department of Health-Central Visayas urged rural health units (RHUs) and district hospitals to establish a functional psychiatric ward.

In yesterday’s Kapihan sa PIA, DOH public information officer Suzette Limbaga said that since last year, their office has been calling out to the different RHUs and district hospitals throughout the region to set up a functional psychiatric ward because the VSMMC psych ward can no longer accommodate the increasing number of patients.

The VSMMC psych ward with its 60-bed capacity is currently housing 133 patients or more than double its ideal population.

According to Limbaga, the advocacy drive on mental illness prevention and control is more important because “we are more focused on public health and disease prevention rather than the treatment.”

Since health concerns have been devolved to the local government units (LGUs), Limbaga said it is now their call to prioritize health programs that promotes health and wellness among their constituents. She added that in Central Visayas, only the Provincial Government of Negros Oriental operates their own psychiatric center within the provincial hospital.

Dr. Glenda Basubas, chairman of the Philippine Mental Health Association, also said there are 180 cases of suicide based on the preliminary data from the Vicente Sotto Hospital. Of the 180, most of those who were “successful” in committing suicide are men while only less data with women.

“We have no comparative data yet kay we are still consolidating. But 60 to 70 percent of those who commit suicide were successful,” Basubas said.

Basubas supports the call of DOH to establish a psychiatric center that will specialize on mental illness.

“Government and the private sector should have a strong collaboration in order to be effective in any advocacy campaign especially in the area of promoting mental health which is an important indicator of a country’s health status,” Basubas said.

Limbaga said that mental health illness prevention and control program will now be given importance in the DOH programs under the Philippine Health Agenda of the Aquino Administration.

She admitted that campaigns regarding mental health, has not been given much importance before and that with the President’s support, the health department will now be more active in its advocacy on mental health.

Limbaga also pointed out the importance of proper training among healthcare professionals in the care and management of mentally-ill patients prior to setting up a functional psych ward which is considered a major problem why RHUs and public hospitals cannot set up a psych ward.

In Cebu, among the district hospitals located in the cities of Carcar, Mandaue, Talisay, Toledo and Naga, only the latter has two nurses duly trained on the management of mentally-ill patients while the rest of the healthcare staff in the other district hospitals have not undergone training. — (FREEMAN)