CamNorte hospital plight exposed; management ‘blames’ DOH

The sorry state of a public hospital in the town of Daet in Camarines Norte has been exposed, but an official of the facility "blamed" the Department of Health for the problem.

GMA News stringer Peewee Bacuño on Friday reported on the situation of the Camrines Norte Provincial Hospital (CNPH), which he claimed he first learned through some photos a concerned citizen posted on Facebok.

^{-Photo from concerned citizen via Peewee Bacuño}

During his visit to the facility, Bacuño said the sight of dilapidated hospital beds, the lack of ventilation, and the poorly-maintained rooms crammed with patients greeted him.

He said the two rooms he visited stink and were untidy, and the surroundings were filthy; there were no electric fans inside the partients' ward and the worn-out beds had no bed sheets.

To cover the bed frames, patients needed to use their own blankets, towels, and cardboard sheets.

Also, he said there was no water coming out of the faucets inside the bathrooms, and that the adjacent room was stuffed with discarded beds, assorted debris, and food waste mice and roaches were feasting on.

Moreover, he said he was informed that the situation in CNPH was similar to the one tormenting patients in the Labo District Hospital in Labo town.

Both hospitals, he said, are under the supervision of the provincial government.

For her part, CNPH spokesperson Kristel Malaluan told Bacuño that the management had made some improvements, but the number of admissions—200 to 300 at any given time—far exceeds the 100-patient capacity of the hospital.

Malaluan noted that the CNPH in 2014 had requested from the DOH additional medical supplies, hospital beds, and electric fans, but until now the Health Department has not delivered any of the requested items.

Meanwhile, the provincial administration has dismissed the supposed sorry state of CNPH as a mud-slinging game orchestrated by political adversaries. — LBG, GMA News