Open letter to Secretary Francisco Duque III

My husband and I are COVID-19 patients and were brought to the Quezon Institute on the night of April 13, 2021. One Command Center was truly on the ball, and made sure everything was handled well from the time we were looking for a hospital to the time we checked in. We are grateful that such a group was set up for COVID-19 patients.

We are truly impressed with the Quezon Institute modular facility; it’s new and very clean, which made us really feel safe to be in.

I would like to point out, however, some things that need improvement so future patients can be better attended to.

1) No doctor has come to visit us. Hindi daw sila nag-vi-visit kasi baka mahawa sila. Their words. This was a surprise because this is a COVID-19 facility.

2) No medication was given to me. In short, I was self-medicating from the time I arrived to the time a doctor checked on my meds. A doctor called me just a few minutes ago to check on my medication.

3) My husband was seen roaming around in his underwear this morning and they did not think anything was remiss, not to mention the fact that he peed on himself thrice, and seemed spaced out. After we brought my husband back to his bed, no one bothered to check him. I had to use our personal thermometer to take his temperature, which was 41 degrees! You know why? Because no nurse came to check the whole night, no nurse to give paracetamol every four hours. If I knew they were this inefficient, I would have set my alarm myself and given him his medications.

4) Basic necessities are not provided, which I understand totally. What I cannot understand is deliveries of essentials like water and towels are taking forever to be brought to us. Water that has been delivered for me and my husband at 8:30 a.m. reached us past noon. I had to go out of the facility and ask the guard twice, I asked two nursing assistants, I called the intercom twice. Water is just as essential as lugaw, and the staff do not seem to have the sense of urgency to understand that.

5) My husband has not been given any chest X-ray despite our requests and the request of our outside doctor. I do not understand the hold-up in this. Price is not an issue for us. Does my husband have to be in the throes of being intubated before he is given an X-ray?

I understand they may be understaffed and overworked, but I hope Quezon Institute can get its act together to better serve the public.

MARIAN KING