Four days after the fire hit the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), its emergency room remains closed for admission, according to the facility's spokesperson.
In an interview with TeleEadyo on Thursday, May 20, Dr. Jonas Del Rosario said PGH "is slowly recovering."
The hospital's Operating Room Sterilization Area (ORSA) that was razed by fire early Sunday is currently being cleared up by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
"Yun pong mga operating room na katabi, unfortunately hindi pa namin magamit dahil inaayos pa rin, electrical, nililinis pa kasi talagang pinasok ng usok. Maraming mga abo doon, may amoy pa. Kailangan pa namin ng clearance (Unfortunately, we can't currently use the operating rooms adjacent to ORSA, they are still being repaired and cleaned. We still need clearance)" Del Rosario said.
The hospital is currently using five operating rooms.
"Hindi po sapat yun, pero ngayon at least nag-oopera na kami ulit dahil mga tatlumpong operating rooms ang naantala. Dahil po dun unfortunately nakasara pa rin ang emergency room ng PGH dahil hindi po namin kayang tumanggap lalo na ng mga pasyente nating kailangan ng emergency surgical procedures (That's not enough, but now at least we're operating again because about 30 operating rooms have paused their operations. Because of that, our emergency room is still closed because we cannot accommodate patients who need emergency surgical procedures)," Del Rosario said.
"Tinatapos po namin lahat ng naka-admit dito na kailangang operahan na inabutan ng sunog. Hopefully by the end of the week matapos na yun at hopefully by the start of the week mas maraming operating rooms ang mabuksan at medyo mag-normalize ang aming operations (We're prioritizing all those admitted here who need to be operated. Hopefully by the end of the week we finish operating them and hopefully by the start of the week more operating rooms will be opened so our operations will start to get back to normal)," he added.
However, Del Rosario clarified that they are still accepting coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients.
"Yung COVID po priority natin dahil kami po ay COVID referral center. Wala po kaming tatanggihang COVID patients (COVID patients are our priority because we are a COVID referral center. We will not reject COVID patients)," he said.
Del Rosario said only 110 COVID-19 patients are admitted at the PGH as of Thursday.
A fire struck a portion of the third floor of the PGH early Sunday morning, gutting its operating room supply area where instruments are sterilized and equipment is stored.