Roque says his PGH room good for two ICU beds; gov’t eyes 200 more COVID-19 ICU beds

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Thursday that his hospital room at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), where he was treated for COVID-19, could fit two intensive care unit (ICU) beds as the government eyes adding 200 more ICU beds to address the surge of severe and critical COVID-19 cases.

Roque said that the primary need now is to increase ICU bed capacity for COVID-19 patients since the utilization rate in Metro Manila remains at high risk 70% to 80%.

“Noong ako actually nasa sixth floor ng PGH, napansin ko kasi iyong kuwarto ko puwedeng dalawang ICU iyon at napansin ko doon sa floor na mayroon na ngang apat na regular rooms na ginawang ICU. So, tinanong ko kay Dr. Gap Legaspi kung makakaya pa nilang ma-convert iyong iba pang mga kuwarto na mga sampu doon sa PGH into ICU ‘no at sabi niya puwede naman,” Roque said during the Palace briefing.

(I noticed that my hospital room could fit two ICU [beds for COVID-19 patients], and I also saw that four regular rooms in the same floor were converted to ICUs. I asked Dr. Gap Legaspi if the same can be done to more regular rooms and he said it is doable.)

“Hopefully, in addition to the 176 ICU rooms which have been volunteered by hospitals, we could have an additional 200 ICU beds. But this [effort] is at its early stage,” he added.

Roque said that the national government has already touched base with the PGH, Jose Reyes Medical Center, Quirino Memorial Medical Center, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, and Southern Philippines Medical Center, among others.

“Sinimulan na po natin iyong proseso na pagtatanong sa iba’t-ibang mga government hospitals kung ilang ICU beds ang pupuwede nilang idagdag; iyong iko-convert iyong mga regular rooms at dadagdagan lang ng additional equipment [We already began consultations with hospitals if they can convert more regular rooms to ICU beds by adding equipment]. We’re hoping to finalize the plans within a week’s time,” he said.

“We are really focused on providing more ICU beds because if we are able to do this, we can ease  restrictions to stir our economy.  I will regularly update you on this initiative,” he added.

PGH spokesperson Jonas del Rosario earlier said that five patients at PGH have been dying per day due to COVID-19 for the last three weeks because PGH's ICU and emergency room for COVID-19 patients are always full. — BM, GMA News