Tumulak: Not the time to punish hospitals

CEBU, Philippines — It is not the time to be punishing hospitals for refusing to accept COVID-19 patients.

This is the sentiment of Councilor Dave Tumulak, head of the Cebu City COVID-19 Task Force, following the plan of Councilor Raymond Garcia to pass a resolution penalizing hospitals that refuse to accept COVID-19 patients.

“There’s no time for us to put blame on them. Ang buhaton lang is just to add more beds. For me, dili na mao (What needs to be done is to add more beds. It’s not right to blame them). It is the time to collaborate with each other. The DOH, the LGU, and the hospitals to come up with a solution and put additional beds,” Tumulak told The Freeman.

In the first place, he said, if sanctions need to be handed down, it should be handed down by the Department of Health (DOH), the agency that oversees hospitals.

Tumulak said the public should also understand that hospitals do not only cater to COVID-19 patients. There is also a need to hire more medical frontliners who can help attend to COVID-19 patients.

Dr. Narciso Tapia, a healthcare professional and himself a chronic illness patient, agrees with Tumulak.

“Wa jud ni sila kasabot sa sitwasyon ron… partly, this problem arose because partly kuwang pa ila aksyon ug suporta. Imbis tabangan mga hospitals and frontliners para di ma-overwhelm, ila na hinoon samot iduot nga pag-awayon ang public ug ang mga frontliners. Nitabang na gani nila ang private sector in the form of Sacred Heart School for Boys and IEC Quarantine centers, kani pa ila isukli? Support the frontliners, our heroes, sa istorya but in reality, kutob ra istorya,” Tapia said.

(I don’t understand the situation right now… this is happening partly because the support is lacking. Instead of helping the hospitals and frontliners so they won’t get overwhelmed, they are now creating conflict between the public and frontliners. The private sector has already extended help through the Sacred Heart School for Boys and IEC Quarantine centers, and this is how they will repay? They say support the frontliners, our heroes, but that remains in words.)

He echoed Tumulak’s call for unity and said no hospital, if it can only accommodate, would want to reject a patient.

“Panahon ron para magtinabangay. Dili kay samot ipalayo ang mga frontliners nga tinuod nagsakripisyo karon. Hunahunaa sad ang welfare sa frontliners para naa pay magpabilin atiman sa mga pasyente. Ubos na gani ila morale ron tungod sa mga panghitabo. Nagsilbe na sila sa mga hospital, nagsakripisyo dili kauli sa ila pamilya, naningkamot pa edukar sa mga tao.  Frustrating kaayo sitwasyon ron sa mga frontliners. Dili kani ang paagi. Pakigstorya sa ug paminawa unsa juy problema,” Tapia said.

(This is time to work together, not pull frontliners, the ones sacrificing a lot, away. We should also look at the welfare of the frontliners so that we will not lose the people who will take care of the patients. Their morale is already very low because of the situation. They are serving the hospitals, they sacrifice not being able to go home to their families, they are doing their best to educate the people. Their situation is very frustrating. This is not the way. Talk to them and listen to know what the problem really is.)

Addressed

The Chong Hua Hospital group was able to expand its capacity with 55 more beds for a total of 175 beds, the Cebu Doctor’s University Hospital group have expanded with 18 beds for a total of 94 beds, Perpetual Succor Hospital has expanded with 20 beds for a total of 56 beds, and UC Med has expanded with 17 beds for a total of 29 beds.

CHH has also add 12 ICU beds while CDUH is adding two.

Barangay Situation

Barangay Guadalupe Captain Michael Gacasan, meanwhile, pointed out the seeming lack of coordination on the process as there have been residents who test positive for COVID-19 who reportedly step forward on their own and ask they stay at the barangay isolation center.

“Ang hospital, walay coordination asa nga agency sila musumbong, adto ba sa DOH o city health kung mag-positive… sila bay mukuha, unya, pahibaw-on mi. Dili kay mu-walk in lang sulod diri sa barangay. Daghan kaayong tawo unya magda sa ilang result unya muingog magpa-isolate ko kay positive ko. Dili lang kay lima lang nahitabo namo diri,” Gacasan said.

(There is no coordination where they should approach when they test positive. Should they go to DOH or to the city health? Will someone fetch them and inform us about it? They cannot just walk into the barangay with their test result on hand and tell us that they want to be isolated. We have had more than five of these instances.)

Patients who test positive but are asymptomatic are housed at the barangay isolation centers.

Tumulak said this did not only happen in Guadalupe but as long as the patients are wearing masks, it should be safe.

Suggestions

To flatten the curve of infection, Tapia suggests that the city government, with the help of the police, army, and barangay personnel, enforces more strictly preventive measures like wearing of mask and social distancing.

Aside from this, aid should be distributed house to house to avoid people from gathering.

His call to city government officials:

“Use their influence and access to media para educate sa constituents to wear masks properly. Hangyoa ang katawhan nga mag-social distancing ug masks jud ug sakto bisan asa. Dili unahon ang pa-pogi points o image sa voters, and be transparent sa sitwasyon,” Tapia said.

(They should use their influence and access to media to educate the people to wear masks properly. Encourage the people to observe social distancing and to wear masks anywhere they go. They should not prioritize their image to their voters. They have to be transparent about the situation.)  JMO (FREEMAN)