A total of 20 nurses are set to be deployed to the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital (GCGMH) to augment the facility’s staff amid continued patient congestion due to dengue cases, according to an official.

“We have coming 20 more…Fourteen from Region 7 deployment, six from our own augmentation,” said GCGMH chief Dr. Mutya Macuno.

According to Macuno, the additional nurses are expected to start their duties at the GCGMH this month.

The provincial government last week appealed to the Department of Health (DOH) 7 for “supplementary” nurses, said Governor Edgar Chatto.

“Gi-check nato ang inventory sa nurses sa probinsya—busy sila sa mga district hospitals nato. Mao gihapon, tua puy mga kaso,” said Chatto.

Doctor Jaime Bernadas, Central Visayas health regional director, assured Chatto that the department will mobilize personnel of the Nurses Deployment Program which is under the DOH.

The DOH has recorded 2,057 dengue cases with 37 deaths in Bohol as of November 3, 2018.

In the same period in 2017, there were only 912 cases with eight deaths recorded by health authorities.

Earlier this month, Doctor Yul Lopez of the Provincial Health Office said that the GCGMH and district hospitals in the province have been short on support staff particularly nurses as more patients are taken in by the health facilities.

“Ang Gallares overwhelmed g’yud sila sa gidaghanon sa pasyente. Nihangyo sila og additional nurses nga maka-duty na mo-atiman sa atong mga pasyente kay very crucial ang pagmonitor sa intake sa mga bata—pilay gi-ihi, pilay dextrose na sud,” Lopez said. (ad)