BALANGA CITY — The old Provincial Capitol building converted into an annex of Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) is now fully operational and ready to cater to non-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients.
In its opening today, BGHMC Chief Glory Baltazar said the annex building will serve as a ward extension, while the main building will continue to serve COVID-19 cases.
“Since the hospital became exclusive to COVID-19, we were so saddened to hear reports that some pregnant women gave birth at an ambulance vehicle and other similar instances because BGHMC cannot accommodate them,” Baltazar recalled.
Bataan Peninsula State University-Main Campus and The Bunker, the new Capitol building, were prior choices of housing displaced BGHMC clients, but the two are not ideal after ocular inspection.
“Both buildings are not suited for patients and are not fit for the requirements of a hospital,” she added as there are ongoing constructions in the university, while The Bunker has centralized air-conditioning.
For his part, Governor Albert Raymond Garcia said in spite of their partnerships with private hospitals in Bataan, there were still shortages of healthcare facilities as other hospitals were already full.
“Despite all the challenges, we pushed to create an annex building for BGHMC so together with private hospitals and medical institutions in the province, we can provide medical services for those who will need it,” he added.
Moreover, social workers from the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office are assigned in all private hospitals in Bataan to assess and provide financial assistance to poor patients or those regularly benefitting from the No Balance Billing Policy of BGHMC.
“Private hospitals were overwhelmed [after BGHMC became a COVID-19 exclusive hospital] which made me realize that BGHMC has a big contribution during normal times that we take for granted. But now that it became a dedicated hospital to COVID-19 patients, it was then we realized its role for the health of the public,” he stressed.
“If you will need anything else, the provincial government is at your disposal as we recognize your big contributions in maintaining the good health of every citizens, and we are here to support you,” Garcia vowed in front of the doctors and other personnel of BGHMC.
Some of the services available at the annex are surgery, pediatrics, Obstetrics-Gynecology (OB) and other medical services provided that admitted patients are not experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19 or those who already tested negative to the disease after being assessed at a triage tent at the BGHMC main building.
The ward extension has a 50-bed capacity, 10 beds each for the medical ward, surgery ward and pediatric ward, while there are 20 beds provided for the OB ward.
However, the public is advised that the annex will not conduct any face-to-face consultations as all clients should seek a teleconsultation service from the hospital via https://www.bghmc-sdn.net/telemedicine, which is available Mondays to Fridays from 8:00am to 5:00pm.
BGHMC-Annex is only five minutes away from its main building located in Balanga City.