NKTI emergency room hits full capacity

MANILA, Philippines — The National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City has reached full capacity, prompting the NKTI management to stop admitting patients.

“We advise patients to look for other hospitals upang mabigyan ng kaagarang lunas ang inyong karamdaman,” NKTI executive director Dr. Rose Marie Rosete-Liquete said yesterday.

Liquete said the hospital is crowded with patients, most of whom are kidney patients requiring dialysis.

There are also leptospirosis and COVID-19 patients admitted to the government hospital, she said.

“Dahil dito ay puno na rin ang aming emergency room na sa kasalukuyan ay umabot na sa three times ng aming kapasidad,” Liquete said.

The NKTI is also suffering from shortage of nurses, which Liquete said is one of the major problems facing the Department of Health (DOH).

The NKTI advised people needing treatment to seek assistance from the National Navigation and Referral Center so they could be referred to available hospitals.

The DOH assured the public that steps are being taken to address the problems at the NKTI.

Health Undersecretary Nestor Santiago visited the NKTI yesterday to assess the situation and ensure that patients who could not be admitted would be referred to a nearby hospital.

“Rest assured that the DOH is on top of this and will make sure that patients seeking care will be accommodated in other hospitals,” the agency said.