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[av_heading heading=’Regional hospital chief defends staff
Drilon seeks sit-down with Crusaders, complainants ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – Dr. Julius Drilon came to the defense of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) staff, the subject of complaints forwarded to the Department of Health.
Some patients and folks who experienced alleged harsh treatment from the CLMMRH staff aired their grievances to Task Force Crusaders, a group working under the Office of the Solicitor General, which wrote Health secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial.
According to Drilon, the chief of hospital, he is willing to “sit down” with task force head John Chiong and the complainants to know the nature of the complaints and find ways to address them.
The complaints Task Force Crusaders cited in its Nov. 10 letter to Ubial included the staffers’ alleged misbehavior and unfair treatment of patients and watchers, their “lack of concern and sympathy,” and lack of medicines.
One particular complaint mentioned a nurse who yelled at a patient and their watcher. The complainant called on Drilon to watch over his staff via security camera.
Drilon defended the staffers, albeit subtly, citing the workload and pressure they deal with every day. “We have almost bitten off more than we could chew because of overpopulation,” he said. “We have catered to more than three-fourths of our regular capacity.”
Among the complaints was the hospital’s alleged refusal of patients.
Drilon said the CLMMRH serves as the “catch basin” of all patients in Negros Occidental and this capital city. “We don’t refuse patients”; Republic Act 8344 prohibits that, the chief of hospital clarified.
But this contributes to “overpopulation” in the facility. “Our regular bed capacity is only 400, but it has become a regular occurrence that we accommodate more than 700 patients daily,” said Drilon.
“Imagine the additional workload, the number of additional beds and spaces, among others, that we are facing and dealing with every day,” he said.
Drilon appealed to Chiong and the complainants to let them know “the specific details and nature of the complaints so we can initiate the necessary and appropriate action.”
He stressed that the CLMMRH is “open” to feedback, “good or otherwise.”
“Of course, we cannot perfect everything,” he said. “But I am pretty sure there are also thousands of patients who were satisfied with our medical care. It is just normal to receive complaints. There are situations beyond our control.”
Drilon urged Chiong and the complainants to “help us validate the complaints.”
“Let’s sit down and discuss things [and find] solutions rather than leave this matter to vanish into thin air,” he said. “Chiong knows where to see me.”
In a separate interview in October, Drilon said the regional hospital’s resources have “thinned out.” The CLMMRH’s officials appealed to health centers and district hospitals to help decongest it.
Aside from Pediatrics Department patients congesting the 65-bed Emergency Room (ER) — the former department is currently undergoing renovations — around 300 to 500 outpatients go to the CLMMRH every day when the Outpatient Department normally takes in only 300 a day, Drilon said.
The ER, on the other hand, now accommodates almost 300 patients per day./PN
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