Herbosa asks hospitals to identify hazards after PGH fire

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa on Monday said he has directed government hospitals to determine the fire hazards in their establishments, following another fire incident at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila this morning.

At a press conference, Herbosa underscored the importance of identifying hazards to prevent similar fire incidents in hospitals that cater to thousands of patients daily. However, he said it is the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) that should initiate the investigation into the PGH fire.

“Ang inutos ko related to that, inutusan ko lahat ng ospital namin na mag-identify ng tinatawag na fire hazard. So dala ‘yan ng mga fire hazard. Alam ko stock room na naman ‘to eh [ang pinagmulan ng sunog],” he said.

(I ordered all our hospitals to identify their fire hazards. The fire was caused by these hazards. I know the source of the PGH fire came from a stock room again.)

The BFP raised the first alarm in PGH at 6:07 a.m., then the second alarm at 6:21 a.m. Fire out was declared at 7:08 a.m.

At 7:23 a.m., patients were allowed to go back to the outpatient department (OPD). No one was injured in the fire.

According to initial information from firemen, the fire started in a room on the second floor of the Central Block Building.

However, the Manila Fire District later said the fire started due to an overheating air conditioner at the "call room" at the mezzanine of the Main Building.

Herbosa said all the 22 DOH hospitals in Metro Manila are willing to accept patients that need to be transferred from PGH, should there be any.

“Ang PGH, pinaka-malaking ospital sa Metro Manila, 1,500 beds. ‘Yung OPD nila na malapit doon sa nasunog na lugar sumisilbi ‘yan ng about 5,000 patients a day. So kapag nagsara ‘yun, pupunta ‘yan (pasyente) sa mga DOH hospitals,” he said.

(PGH is the largest hospital in Metro Manila. It has 1,500 beds. Their OPD which is near the area that got burned serves about 5,000 patients a day. So when that closes, the patients will go to other DOH hospitals.)

“Ito ang risk talaga kapag ang isang opsital nasunog, lahat ng ospital sa Metro Manila maapektuhan. So kailangan mag-suporta tayo sa isa’t isa,” he added.

(This is the risk when one hospital catches fire, all hospitals in Metro Manila will be affected. So we need to support each other.)

To recall, fire also broke out in parts of PGH in March and April this year. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News