FIRE broke out at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) at dawn Sunday, prompting hospital officials to transfer some patients to other medical facilities also in Manila.
The fire, which was tapped in at past 12:58 a.m., broke out at the third floor of the country’s biggest hospital and raged for about five hours, according to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Manila.
No one was reported hurt or injured during the blaze, which was put under control by firefighters at past 2 a.m. before it was completely extinguished at 5:41 a.m.
Chief Inspector Hector Agadulin, operations officer of the BFP, Manila, said the fire started at the operating room’s supply area in the building’s third floor.
The fire also affected the operating room, prompting hospital officials to evacuate patients.
In a radio interview, Dr. Jonas del Rosario, PGH spokesperson, said the fire started in the Operating Room-Sterilization Area (ORSA), where the linens are located.
Del Rosario said ORSA is located at the third floor of the Central Block Building.
As a result of the fire, the Emergency Room (ER) will be closed and they will not accept admissions starting Sunday, as they had moved some patients to the ER.
Covid ward unaffected
Del Rosario said that the Covid charity ward was not affected. However, the Covid patients who are paying were transferred to the Intensive Care Units of the charity ward.
“’Yung iba naman po nilipat sa emergency room ng OB ang tawag po namin doon [Some were transferred to the emergency room of the OB, we call that ] OB admitting section. We made sure they don’t mix with the non-Covid patients,” said del Rosario. PGH is attending to 156 Covid-19 patients.
BFP’s Agadulin said probers are still investigating the cause of the fire as well as the extent and amount of damage.
Around 80 to 90 percent of the patients, including infants from the neonatal intensive care unit, were evacuated when the fire started. No one was hurt.
Transfer of patients
Meanwhile, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told BusinessMirror they facilitated the transfer of some patients to other Department of Health-supervised hospitals, but as to the final number of transferees, “We are still coordinating.”
Dr. Grace Padilla, director of Sta. Ana Hospital, reported that 12 patients from PGH-NICU were accommodated by their hospital.
Two babies will be accepted by Ospital ng Maynila, according to Director Dr. Karl Laqui; four others will be transferred to Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center, according to Dr. Ted Martin.