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Vega says NCR's healthcare utilization rate drops but 'we're still not out of the woods'
Vega says NCR's healthcare utilization rate drops but 'we're still not out of the woods'
The healthcare utilization rate in Metro Manila has decreased in the past weeks, the country’s treatment czar and Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said Tuesday, April 27.
From a peak of 76 percent in late March, Vega said healthcare utilization rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) dropped to roughly 65 percent as of April 26.
“I think the most important and very significant factor is that there has been a decrease and plateauing of the healthcare utilization rate,” Vega said in a CNN Philippines interview.
Moreover, he said that utilization rate of intensive care units (ICU) in the NCR has decreased to 71 percent from a rate of about 79 percent in March 25.
“We’re still not out of the woods,” Vega said. “But we’re trying to make sure that all of the institutions or the health facilities can make the necessary allocations for access for COVID-19 patients.”
Based on the latest data from the Department of Health (DOH), 71 percent of ICU beds in Metro Manila are occupied as of April 26, while 57 percent of the total 3,800 isolation beds are being utilized.
Moreover, the DOH data showed that 64 percent of around 2,200 hospital ward beds in NCR are in use, while 58 percent of the ventilators are being utilized.
“The focus of our intervention now in expending the healthcare facilities is really the ICU. Why? Because it is the ICU that saves lives,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
“So, we would like to put everything in expanding the ICU capacity. More beds, more human resource,” he added.
Duque earlier lamented that there is not enough healthcare workers manning various health institutions and medical facilities in the country.
With this, the Health chief urged nurses and doctors to apply in order increase the manpower in hospitals.
Meanwhile, Vega said the government is continuously hiring more medical personnel in order to deploy more healthcare workers, particularly in hospitals congested with COVID-19 patients.
“At present right now, we are still currently hiring healthcare workers both for public and private to meet the demands of the present surge,” Vega said.