Baguio dirty auto shops/ City health care critical

CITY HALL BEAT
Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – Regular inspections of auto and motorcycle repair shops will be intensified to ensure their compliance not only with sanitation laws but also with business, environmental and zoning rules.
    This after the joint team from the Permits and Licensing Division and Public Order and Safety Division of the City Mayor’s Office, the City Planning and Development Office, the City Environment and Parks Management Office and the City Health Services Office found that apart from cleanliness issues, some establishments have also been violating other statutes.
    Mayor Benjamin Magalong on April 27 ordered an inspection of said shops after observing that most of them are not seeing to the upkeep of their working areas so that they have turned into eyesores.
    “Most are dirty, disorderly and are improperly disposing their toxic materials including used oil and chemicals.  We should immediately address this condition,” he told the management committee meeting.
    “They should tidy up and maintain a clean shop especially since most of them are located along highways and conspicuous places,” he said.
    PLD head Allan Abayao said that as of April 29, they have inspected a total of 41 auto repair shops and all of them were directed to undertake cleaning and to maintain the upkeep of the place at all times.
    Of those inspected, there were four found to be operating without business permit and had been issued notices of violation and advised to renew their permits.
    Violations of the Sanitation Code, Environmental Code and zoning ordinance were also noted in some of the shops and these will be dealt with by the Sanitation Division of the City Health Services Office under Engr. Charles Carame, the CEPMO under Atty. Rhenan Diwas and the CPDO under Arch. Donna Tabangin, respectively.
    The POSD under Marvin Herrera will continue to assist the other offices in monitoring.
    Inspections were continuing as of press time.  There are 82 of such shops currently operating in the city from the total of 115 in 2020.
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The city’s health care utilization for Covid-19 has remained on critical risk status as of April 26, according to the Baguio City Health Services Office.
    City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo in her report to the Management Committee led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong said all of the five hospitals in the city reported more than 85 percent health care utilization rate (HCUR) as of said date.
    SLU Hospital of the Sacred Heart and, Baguio Medical Center and Pines City Doctor’s Hospital reported 100 percent HCUR while Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center and Notre Dame de Chartres Hospital had 92.31 percent and 96 percent, respectively.
    The health care facilities include ward beds, isolation beds, intensive care unit (ICU) beds, mechanical ventilators.
BGHMC has a total authorized bed capacity of 600 beds, the highest among the five medical establishments.  Notre has 125; SLU, 120, Pines City, 110 and BMC 24 for a grand total of 979 bed capacity.
    For the city’s isolation facilities at the six Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities, a total of 531 beds are currently in use out of the 779 beds for a HCUR of 68.16 percent or moderate risk level.
    Only the Baguio Community Isolation Unit at the former Sto. Niño de Jesus Medical Center was at critical risk with 284 occupied beds out of 310 beds or 91.6 percent HCUR.
    The Roxas Hall Isolation Facility Teachers’ Camp with 316 beds is at moderate risk with 66.45 percent or 210 occupied out of 316 beds.     
    The four others – Magsaysay Hall Quarantine Facility also at Teachers’ Camp with two out of ten authorized beds; Laurel Dorm, 28 occupied out of 101; Centrial Triage Quarantine Facility at Baguio Convention Center , one out of 12 and the newly reopened Ferionni Apts. with six beds occupied out of 30 – were on low risk level of HCUR.
    All in all, the city has a total of 248 available isolation beds.
    Mayor Benjamin Magalong earlier assured that the city is addressing the problem by adding more beds and transforming existing ones as step-down facilities to declog the hospitals.
    The city is also working out the establishment of a modular TTMF to augment the bed capacity at the BGHMC.