Bacolod City Council okays temporary COVID hospital

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio Leonardia lauded the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) for approving and ratifying in its session Wednesday the contract between the City and the Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital, Inc.

The hospital will dedicate its South Wing with 34 rooms for the exclusive use of indigent patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms who will be referred by the local government unit.

For the duration of this arrangement, this portion of the hospital shall be called the Bacolod City Respiratory Referral Center (BCRRC), Leonardia said.

“This was to meet the urgent need for a medical facility dedicated for persons under investigation coming from indigent families, and to supplement the bed capacity of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) and other private hospitals for such cases,” he added.

He also said that while the arrangement lasts, the city government  will provide additional equipment in the form of 17 patient beds, one portable x-ray, an ECG machine, a defibrillator, an E-cart, a video laryngoscope, among others; and consumable supplies such as PPEs and testing kits.

The equipment will continue to be owned by the City and shall be made available for the free use of the hospital, he added.

The mayor said that medical, nursing, utility, and administrative staff for the BCRRC will be provided by the hospital.

The city will provide 10 registered nurses to work the third shift every 14 days, he said.

He also said that the payroll and other employee benefits shall be the respective responsibility of the hospital or the LGU, as the case may be.

“We are deeply grateful to the owners and management of the Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital, Inc. led by its Chairperson Dr. Evangeline Johnson and President Dr. Lucho Giovanni Giron for generously coming forward and offering their South Wing to us as part of their social responsibility during this COVID-19 crisis. This is private sector contribution at its best,” the mayor added.