Military hospitals exempted in COVID pandemic - Lagman
Published Apr 3, 2020 12:00 am
By Ben Rosario
Independent Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay sought an answer to this question as he noted military hospitals like the Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center (AFPMC), formerly V. Luna Hospital, and the Veterans Memorial Medical Hospital (VMMC) have not been heard of as various private and public medical facilities have been in round-the-clock operations to treat patients infected by the dreaded COVID-19.
Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman
(FEDERICO CRUZ / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) “With the expected surge of confirmed cases consequent to the expanded testing, the Department of Health (DOH) must fully tap these military hospitals in the campaign against the novel coronavirus,” said Lagman. The Bicolano lawmaker disclosed that major military hospitals in the country have a combined 2,451 combined bed capacity. The AFPMC can admit 1,200 patients, the Army General Hospital at 200, Air Force General Hospital at 100, and the Navy and Cavite Naval Hospital at 185. The AFP has other hospitals located nationwide with a composite bed capacity of no less than 556 beds. Located in Quezon City, the VMMC has 766 bed capacity. Reports indicated that the VMMC will now accept Covid patients. “These hospitals are fully funded under the 2020 General Appropriations Act with the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and the V. Luna Medical Center having almost identical total appropriations of P1.8-billion each,” said Lagman. According to Lagman, “large private hospitals” have reported that their effective capacities have been reached and they could no longer admit additional COVID-19 patients. “With the exception of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and the V. Luna Medical Center with 5 and 1 COVID-19 positive patients, respectively, as of April 2, 2020, the other military hospitals have no record of confinement yet,” the Bicolano solon noted. The top 5 hospitals with the biggest admission of confirmed cases are St. Luke’s Medical Center—Global City with 91, St. Luke’s Medical Center—Quezon City with 81, Makati Medical Center with 72, Lung Center of the Philippines with 62, and The Medical City—Ortigas with 56.
Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman(FEDERICO CRUZ / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) “With the expected surge of confirmed cases consequent to the expanded testing, the Department of Health (DOH) must fully tap these military hospitals in the campaign against the novel coronavirus,” said Lagman. The Bicolano lawmaker disclosed that major military hospitals in the country have a combined 2,451 combined bed capacity. The AFPMC can admit 1,200 patients, the Army General Hospital at 200, Air Force General Hospital at 100, and the Navy and Cavite Naval Hospital at 185. The AFP has other hospitals located nationwide with a composite bed capacity of no less than 556 beds. Located in Quezon City, the VMMC has 766 bed capacity. Reports indicated that the VMMC will now accept Covid patients. “These hospitals are fully funded under the 2020 General Appropriations Act with the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and the V. Luna Medical Center having almost identical total appropriations of P1.8-billion each,” said Lagman. According to Lagman, “large private hospitals” have reported that their effective capacities have been reached and they could no longer admit additional COVID-19 patients. “With the exception of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and the V. Luna Medical Center with 5 and 1 COVID-19 positive patients, respectively, as of April 2, 2020, the other military hospitals have no record of confinement yet,” the Bicolano solon noted. The top 5 hospitals with the biggest admission of confirmed cases are St. Luke’s Medical Center—Global City with 91, St. Luke’s Medical Center—Quezon City with 81, Makati Medical Center with 72, Lung Center of the Philippines with 62, and The Medical City—Ortigas with 56.