The move of the private hospitals came after the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) got "overwhelmed" with the spike of COVID-19 cases.
In a report from the City Information Office (CIO), COVID-19 Task Force Spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser, said “admittedly, SPMC is overwhelmed because it is the only public hospital in Davao City that caters to COVID-19 cases.”
These private hospitals who started catering to COVID-19 patients include Davao Doctors Hospital, San Pedro Hospital, Brokenshire Hospital, Metro Davao Medical and Research Center, Inc., and Anda Riverview Medical Center, Inc., .
SPMC earlier issued an advisory that it will only cater mainly to moderate to critical COVID-19 cases "due to the influx of COVID-19 cases that have maximized our hospital beds."
"Non-COVID-19 cases will only be urgent and emergent cases. We would also like to reiterate that (there will be) no coordinated referrals, no transfer," the SPMC advisory said.
All referrals will have to be coursed through the One Hospital Command Center (OHCC) hotline numbers (Smart) 0961-5798494 or (Globe) 0995-1718407.
As of January 26, 2022, SPMC's 87 COVID-19 ICU beds and its 455 COVID-19 ward beds have been 100 percent occupied.
SPMC has also temporarily closed face-to-face outpatient department (OPD) services and admission of surgical cases as of January 17, 2022. But the OPD teleconsulta will remain open and emergent surgical and urgent cancer cases will still be catered to.
Schlosser said while the surge has overwhelmed SPMC, other hospitals, and city-managed isolation facilities, TTMFs continue to cater to COVID-19 cases.
The implementation of home isolation, according to her, also helped in managing the surge of COVID-19 cases in Davao City, which is at 9,973 active cases as of January 27.
"During a surge, we are permitted to do home isolation. Yes, our TTMFs are filling up but we also have allowed home isolation for those who meet the requirements)," she said.
Schlosser continuously urges Dabawenyos to get vaccinated as the coronavirus is still very much around.
She said even in the middle of the surge no vaccination hub is closed because we wanted everyone from all allowed categories to get the booster shots.
She said all vaccination hubs are open for those who have not yet availed of the first, second, or missed doses.
Every hub also caters walk-ins.
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