Photo courteasy by : Christian Eric Buntan Villaflor
THE patients who were affected by the fire that razed down a portion of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) had been safely relocated, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said on Thursday.
Herbosa said all offices and patients in the wards that were affected by the fire that broke out on Wednesday had been transferred to the atrium while patients from the intensive care unit were brought to the wards.
No patients were transferred to other hospitals and those affected had to be placed in other wards and units within the PGH compound. There were no reports of patients or hospital personnel injured during the fire.
The fire broke out at around 2:38 pm on Wednesday in the audiovisual room of the Department of Medicine of the PGH, which is slated for renovation.
The fire reached second alarm, prompting the evacuation of all offices and patients in wards affected.
The fire was declared under control at around 3:45 pm and was later put out at around 4:30 pm. Damage confined to the affected room only while utilities restored after fire marshals has cleared the area and allowed patients to go back to the wards.
Herbosa said the PGH will temporarily close admissions to its emergency room following the blaze.
“We will temporarily close admissions to the ER, until further notice,” Herbosa said.
At the same time, Herbosa warned of calls for donations supposedly asking for financial help for the fire-stricken PGH.
He said “there is no call for donation from PGH” that are currently making the rounds online. He added these calls for donation are not official, “or may even be fake.”
Herbosa said he has already directed all DOH offices to conduct fire hazard assessment and fire evacuation drills in light of the fire incident, and in line with the observation of the fire prevention month this March.
