The Sunday blaze that destroyed the Operating Room Supply and Autoclave (Orsa) Room, where surgical instruments are sterilized and supplies are stored, would pose a big obstacle to the operation of our biggest medical facility in the country—the Philippine General Hospital, premier COVID-19 referral facility.
Though the rest of the operating complex was spared from the blaze, thick smoke enveloped it making it nearly impossible to resume operations. This prompted Vice President Leni Robredo to call for donations of industrial fans to blow away the billowing smoke.
A total of five sterilization units were destroyed although the hospital still has other units, Legaspi said. “This will severely affect us,” reported PGH Director Gerardo P. Legaspi.
While Orsa’s operations could be back to normal in three to four months, “we will not wait for this to resume surgeries,” the PGH director said citing collaborations with other hospitals and adjustments within the PGH system for the resumption of regular schedule of surgeries.
The hospital has designated two areas to house sterilizing equipment and plans to purchase new equipment for emergency use to hurdle government procurement procedures.
Referral Hospital
The University of the Philippines-PGH has been designated by the Department of Health (DOH) as one of the three COVID-19 referral centers in the National Capital Region (NCR), with the concurrence of UP President Danilo L. Concepcion and UP Manila Chancellor Carmencita D. Padilla. The other two hospitals designated as COVID-19 referral centers in the NCR are the Dr. Jose M. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital in Caloocan City and the Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City.
Government hospitals under the DOH, major private hospitals, and the different offices of the DOH were tasked with coordinating the management of the COVID-19 public health emergency, Dr. Legaspi said.
Not exclusively COVID-19 hospital
But Dr. Legaspi stressed that “UP-PGH will not be an exclusively COVID-19 hospital,” citing the more than 400 patients at the hospital who need the different specializations of UP-PGH’s experts. He noted that the number of these patients had been dwindling because of the lockdown.
He was addressing concerns about the continued operations of the Cancer Institute. He said the Cancer Institute is still open and will continue to provide patients with services, including radiotherapy.
Another essential service of UP-PGH is the Emergency Room, which will also remain open. COVID-19 patients will have a separate Emergency Room. But when testing becomes adequate and regular, there will be no more need for a separate Emergency Room because the COVID ward will be accepting only COVID-positive patients.
“There are challenges, many challenges,” said Director Legaspi.
These include the lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and testing kits. However, UP-PGH is preparing itself to handle patients up to 10 times greater than the expected number.
Calls for help
Since Sunday’s blaze, many individuals, groups and interested parties have been calling for cash/in-kind assistance for the UP-PGH to ensure its smooth resumption, albeit even in its messy condition from the fire, which caused relocation of some units and partitioning of some rooms.
As Rep. Angelica Natasha Co of BHW Partylist expressed her unity with UP-PGH community in finding immediate and long-term solutions to the disruption caused by the fire to a highly essential part of the country’s healthcare system.
Affected were surgeries that had to be suspended; the fire damage most likely involved the whole building; activities which were done in the affected building have to be relocated somewhere else but nearby; and the space is limited at UP-PGH as the compound itself is already densely-packed.
For the immediate or short-term, huge container vans that can be stacked and arranged like a lego set can be built as a temporary facility in a few days or weeks. The parking lot is the only vacant land in the compound where a temporary facility can be erected.
Another option is to look for a nearby building just outside and near the compound where the non-essentials or least essentials can be moved, she said. The question is will building owners volunteer their buildings to temporarily host some of the PGH offices?
For the long term, UP-PGH and UP Manila, being old buildings (with UP Manila coming before the Diliman campus) deserve to have new buildings, a matter that only the UP system, the Department of Health and Congress can resolve.
Co suggested that once the new Supreme Court complex is completed in Taguig, the Padre Faura compound can be used by UP.
She said she prefers giving both UP-PGH and UP Manila new facilities. Hanapan ng pondo, gawan ng paraan.
Fund raising by UP Mass Comm
A Facebook fund-raising was launched last Monday by the UP College of Mass Communications from among its alumni. If you also wish to give to UP-PGH and consolidate the donations of fellow UP Masscom alumni, kindly PM Oscar Gomez or text +63917 850 4114. Maraming salamat, mga ka-Plaridel
The PGH itself opened its official call for aid, encouraging food, non-food and cash donations.
Calls for donation started to pop up online to help the affected patients and healthcare workers.
The University of the Philippines Manila also shared other ways to donate cash to the hospital. Cash can be deposited into the following PGH Medical Foundation Inc. accounts.
The PGH’s Human Milk Bank will accept breast milk donations on Monday, May 17, 2021, since the hospital’s power and refrigerator have been affected by the fire.
Private donors may drop off their milk at PGH Ortoll Primary Reproductive Health Care Center until 5 pm. Contact 0956 592 8892 to arrange a drop-off.
If the milk donation is dropped off using a courier service, contact the UP-PGH Milk Bank at 0920 665 5490.
Calamity fund
Former Commission on Audit commissioner Jose Fabia, however, deems the calls unnecessary, as it is the government's responsibility to support state-run institutions during calamities.
"It is the obligation of the government to provide full and immediate support to PGH," said Fabia. "It is a government hospital that is performing a vital role in providing quality care to Filipinos. It does not have to beg support from the public. There is a calamity fund from which the government can draw support for situations such as this."
House Resolution
Senior Citizen Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes filed House Resolution 1767 calling on the Departments of Health, Social Welfare and Finance and other relevant government agencies to provide the needed financial, personnel, infrastructure, and supply aid to the PGH.
Ordanes’ call comes after the PGH has suspended surgical procedures following a fire that broke out at the facility on Sunday.
PGH Director Legaspi admits it would take approximately three or four months before fire-hit section of the PGH, the operating room supply and autoclave room (ORSA) returns to normal operations.
ORSA, where the fire started, was where the surgical instruments were being sterilized.
“The PGH being the go-to hospital of our indigent countrymen, its operation’s disruption due to fire is a significant blow to our pandemic-suffering health care system,” said Ordanes.
“Funds must be immediately mobilized and 24/7 reconstruction of the PGH must ensue so that normalcy can be attained in just a matter of days, not months,” Ordanes, Chair of the House Committee on Seniors stressed.
The PGH needs us. Let us help our esteemed healthcare provider.