Displaced fire patients temporarily housed at SPMC

A TOTAL of 197 patients of the Southern Philippines Medical Center-Department of Psychiatry were temporarily relocated at its outpatient building after a huge fire razed the only mental hospital in Mindanao.

However, SPMC chief of hospital Dr. Leopoldo Vega said the outpatient building of the SPMC located along Dumanlas Road in Buhangin District cannot accommodate all the 197 patients.

Thus, it is important for them to identify the level of attention each patient needs, he said.

Vega said he is hoping that immediate action shall be taken as soon as possible, adding that they have long been asking the national government to allocate funds for the renovation of the building, which is used to be the former Davao General Hospital since 1917, but nothing was provided for.

Not all the patients are from Davao Region as it is the only mental hospital in Mindanao. It also serves patients who are natives of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Cagayan de Oro, Surigao, and among others.

SPMC chief administrative officer Dr. Ricardo Justol said the patients were also immediately given prescription to avoid any violent reaction.

“Walay angay kabalak-an ang mga paryente. Ang atoa ani ang maintenance lang, tambal ug pagkaon,” he said in a radio interview.

One thing that the SPMC officials also worry about is the hospital records as no back-up files are available.

Fire Inspector Rodolfo Alocelja, chief of the investigation and intelligence section of the Bureau of Fire Protection 11, said the total cost of damage reached P2 million.

He said that almost all structures made of dilapidated wood, except for the multi-purpose hall

and the gymnasium, were destroyed.

Alocelja said that based on their initial investigation the fire caused by faulty electrical wiring broke out in the operational therapy of the female ward and spread to the adjacent buildings.

Meanwhile, Department of Health assistant secretary Elmer Punzalan immediately fled to Davao City to assess and resolve the problem.

The central office, in coordination with DOH 11, will resolve the displacement of 197 patients.

Dr. Josephine Villafuerte of the City Health Office said they the city is ready to provide whatever service for the displaced patients. ANC