The University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) has been designated by the Department of Health (DOH) as one of its COVID-19 referral hospitals for the National Capital Region (NCR) in line with UP’s mandate as a public service university.
UP-PGH is tasked with admitting COVID-19 patients within its cluster. This is according to a letter sent by DOH Secretary Francisco Duque to UP officials on March 19, 2020.
Aside from UP-PGH, two other hospitals have been designated COVID-19 referral hospitals for NCR: the Dr. Jose M. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and the Lung Center of the Philippines.
UP-PGH, a unit under UP Manila, is considered the biggest modern government tertiary hospital in the Philippines with the expertise and equipment to treat COVID-19 patients.
Servicing more than 600,000 patients annually, UP-PGH remains the only national referral center for tertiary care, providing direct and quality patient services to thousands of indigent Filipinos all over the country.
The UP-PGH is also one of the hospitals involved in the field validation of the GenAmplify Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) rRT-PCR Detection Kit developed by scientists at the UPM National Institutes of Health and the UP-based Philippine Genome Center.
In a measure to deal with the public health emergency brought about by COVID-19, the DOH has designated at least one hospital per geographic cluster that would take in COVID-19 patients. Specialty and Level 3 hospitals were considered possible candidates for COVID-19 referral hospitals.
The DOH has committed to providing full support for the UP-PGH and other designated referral hospitals.
As of March 19, 2020, the DOH has reported 217 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Related: UP-PGH preparing to operate as COVID-19 referral center
