The Riverside Medical Center dedicates its entire 5th floor for suspected, probable, and confirmed COVID cases, a press release from Bacolod City PIO said.
Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia expressed the city’s gratitude to the management and staff of the hospital as it would help in stepping up the fight against the global pandemic.
In his letter to Genesis Goldi Golingan, president and chief executive officer of the Riverside Medical Center, Inc. (RMCI), dated 8 May, 2020, Leonardia called the hospital’s decision as a “most heartwarming news” and “like a ray of light coming from behind the dark clouds.”
“Indeed, when members of the private sector, like you, step up to share the burden of protecting and caring for our people against this deadly disease, we can only say, ‘Praise the Lord for He is good,’ because He has answered, through you, the prayers of many in our City Government and our people,” the mayor wrote.
On 5 May, Golingan and medical director Dr. Ma. Antonia Gensoli wrote to Leonardia to inform the city of the management’s decision that effective 7 May, the Riverside Medical Center, in its “continuing support of the Department of Health and the Local Government of Bacolod City in the fight against COVID-19,” converted its entire 5th floor to an area dedicated for suspected, probable, and confirmed COVID-19 patients.
The hospital has furthermore increased the number of its Isolation Rooms’ bed capacity from three to 12, and its bed capacity for COVID patients to 41.
This makes their total bed capacity dedicated to COVD patients to 53.
“We have effectively delineated areas within the hospital that are safe for our regular non-COVID clients. RMCI has made provisions to keep its clients, as well as its personnel, safe from the threat of COVID amidst the pandemic. Because of this, we have reopened our Medical Arts Building (MAB) and begun normalization of our hospital operations,” Golingan said.
Leonardia added, ”This is, indeed, most heartwarming news and a relief to the community that a hospital they trust has taken this step to ensure that professional care will be provided for those who may be stricken with this dangerous infection.”*/CITY PIO
