PGH emergency room accepts limited patients after fire incident

The operations in the emergency room of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) is currently limited after a fire broke out in some of the hospital's wards on Wednesday afternoon.

PGH spokesperson Dr. Jonas del Rosario told GMA News Online that the hospital raised “Code Triage” in its emergency room, meaning only people who have life-threatening conditions will be entertained for now because some patients had to be transferred to the emergency room due to the fire.

“Sa ngayon, hindi pa pwedeng pumunta sa emergency room ng PGH dahil sa mga naapektuhan na wards at madami pang pasyente nandoon sa emergency room. Umaapaw ang pasyente namin doon ngayon dahil sa nangyaring sunog kahapon, hindi pa sila maipasok sa ospital kaagad,” Del Rosario said in a Balitanghali interview.

(Right now, other people are not allowed in PGH’s emergency room because many patients are there as their wards were affected by the fire. Patients are currently overflowing there and they can’t be transferred yet in the main hospital.)

“Nakikiusap muna kami na very, very limited talaga ang ma-allow na makapasok sa PGH,” he added.

(We’re informing the public that only very limited people could be allowed inside PGH.)

According to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the fire started at around 3 p.m. on Wednesday and escalated to a second alarm at around 3:11 p.m. It was declared under control at around 3:45 p.m.

Del Rosario said the blaze started at the audio-visual room of the Department of Medicine and affected the back portion of Ward 1, as well as Wards 2, 3, and 4.

“‘Yun ay actually due for renovation na. Hindi na ginagamit ‘yung room na ‘yun, medyo naging storage area na lang po dahil condemnable na ‘yung area ng building na ‘yun, doon sa complex ng Department of Medicine,” he said.

(That room is actually due for renovation and is not being used already. It has become a storage area because that area in the complex ng Department of Medicine is already condemnable.)

He also said that no major hospital equipment was damaged by the fire, and only furniture, documents, and old tables were stored in the audio-visual room.

While there were no patients who had to be transferred to other hospitals, Del Rosario said those affected had to be placed in other wards and units within the PGH compound.

This is why he said the bed capacity of the hospital is currently limited because many areas need to be cleaned.

The PGH’s spokesperson also said that no patient and hospital personnel were injured due to the fire.

Investigation regarding the cause of the fire, as well as the estimated cost needed to repair the hospital is still ongoing.

In an ambush interview, DOH Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo said that public hospitals nearby are ready to accept patients who could not be admitted by PGH.

“The DOH hospitals definitely are ready to receive any new patients who are not admitted at the PGH,” he said.

He also reiterated that the DOH has extended assistance to PGH should there be patients who need to be transferred to other hospitals.

“Nakakalungkot ‘yung nangyari but we are glad na kayang kaya ng UP-PGH ‘yung response,” Domingo said.

(We’re saddened about what happened but we are glad that UP-PGH can respond.) — AOL/VDV, GMA Integrated News