ILOILO CITY – Another group of doctors is appealing to the national government for help as beds for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in Iloilo are running out.
“We are respectfully hoping for quick action. This is for the good of the Filipino people, especially the people of the city and province of Iloilo,” said the Iloilo Medical Society (IMS).
“Iloilo is the center of medical care in the island of Panay,” the IMS said in a letter addressed to President Duterte as well as Secretaries Francisco Duque III of the Department of Health (DOH) and Carlito Galvez Jr. of the task force on COVID-19.
As of June 20, the DOH recorded 2,561 active COVID-19 cases in Iloilo City and 2,480 in Iloilo province.
Iloilo City, the regional capital of Western Visayas, is the one that is badly hit as both public and private hospitals are beyond the capacity in treating COVID-19 patients.
Severe COVID-19 cases from Iloilo province as well as the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Guimaras provinces are taken to hospitals in Iloilo City.
“As cases and severity increase, medical resources inversely decrease,” the IMS pointed out.
The IMS, led by Dr. Jimmy Bullo, is appealing for augmentation of health care personnel including doctors, nurses and nursing assistants.
The IMS is also appealing for medical equipment and medical supplies including high-flow oxygen cannulas, ventilators as well as medicines including the antiviral drugs Remdesivir.
The IMS also urged the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to fulfill its obligations to the hospitals. Otherwise, the non-payment “will have a great impact on the already burdened health facilities that may even threaten their continued existence.”