(Northern Samar Provincial Hospital Facebook page)
TACLOBAN CITY — The Northern Samar Provincial Hospital (NSPH) in Catarman, the province’s main referral health facility, is now operating more than double its licensed capacity, prompting hospital officials to temporarily suspend new patient admissions due to severe overcrowding.
In a public advisory issued Saturday (October 18), NSPH Chief of Hospital Dr. Joseph Estanislao said all hospital beds are currently occupied, leaving no room for new admissions.
He appealed to partner hospitals and local health facilities to refer only patients requiring specialized or higher-level care and to stabilize those needing transfer before dispatch.
“We also would like to request the health facilities to stabilize patients before dispatch,” Estanislao said. “Cooperation from other facilities and the public will help ensure that critical and emergency cases receive immediate attention.”
The 150-bed provincial hospital is currently attending to more than 360 patients, many of whom are occupying makeshift beds in hallways and other temporary spaces, according to provincial officials.
Provincial Information Officer Arlyn Cui said the hospital’s overcrowding is largely caused by patients bypassing district hospitals and rural health units (RHUs) and going directly to the provincial hospital—even for minor illnesses.
“NSPH is a referral hospital, but most of the time, patients go directly there regardless of the seriousness of their ailments. They are still being accommodated, which causes the hospital to exceed its capacity,” Cui said in an online interview.
Northern Samar’s provincial government operates eight district hospitals, each with 50 to 100 beds, and several RHU-accredited primary care facilities capable of handling basic treatments, childbirth, and non-critical cases.
Health officials are urging residents to seek care first from these local facilities to reduce congestion at the provincial hospital and ensure that those in need of advanced care can be properly attended to.
The situation in Northern Samar mirrors a wider trend in Eastern Visayas, where other government hospitals—including the Samar Provincial Hospital in Catbalogan City and the Eastern Visayas Medical Center (EVMC) in Tacloban City—have likewise reported operating beyond their maximum capacity amid rising patient admissions in recent months.
Officials said the surge in hospital utilization underscores the need to strengthen the province’s district hospitals and RHUs to improve access to primary care and prevent the overcrowding of referral hospitals like NSPH.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA, JOEY A. GABIETA)
