PGH lifts restriction on maternity cases

The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) lifted yesterday the restriction it imposed on admission of women about to give birth, a hospital official said.

“It’s back to normal,” said PGH spokesman Dr. Michael Tee in a telephone interview.

Last Aug. 3, PGH officials called on mothers who were about to give birth to go somewhere else because the hospital’s nursery was overcrowded with infants born with complications.

PGH normally admits up to 60 babies born prematurely or with complications in its nursery everyday. But prior to Aug. 3, admission reached 90 babies daily.

The PGH, however, continued to admit patients who were experiencing “complicated” delivery. The management had observed the situation for 20 days before restoring the hospital to its normal operation.

Tee said the hospital would further strengthen its networking system with other government hospitals under its “Tatak PGH” program to prevent overcrowding at the PGH.

Under the program, the PGH provides training to the doctors and staff of other hospitals in Metro Manila and nearby provinces to enable them to attend to delicate cases like complicated pregnancies.

The overcrowding of the PGH’s nursery section had been attributed to the frequent transfer of pregnant patients from other government hospitals to the charity ward of PGH.