ANTONIO V. FIGUEROA FAST BACKWARD

Beginning Of Davao Hospital

Utilized as a temporary public hospital was the Bureau of Public Works laborers’ sick ward whose operation was already turned over to the Philippine Health Services (PHS). To comply with its obligation, it was given the needed equipment and facilities, and a laborato-ry.

The public hospital was initially led by Dr. Simeon B. Macasaet, as a resident physician; Juan L. Factora, as superintendent, property clerk and cashier; Andrea Vicente, as a chief nurse; Remedios Ferrer and Ignacio Diego, as nurses; and ward attendants, helpers, and cooks. (Dr. Macasaet was officially appointed resident physician on August 22, 1920.)

Except for the completion of the permanent building, the hospital, by 1919, was operating at near capacity. The PHS summary report for that year indicated that 486 patients were admitted and 2,977 outpatients were served, or an average of 8.1 patients daily. It also per-formed several clinics, namely: medical, 144; surgical, 25; eye, ear, nose, and throat, 2; and obstetrical, 15.

Topping the 486 admittance were patients sick of malaria (241), followed by Asiatic chol-era (62), influenza (35), dysentery (25), beri-beri (20), gonococcus infection and diseases of the stomach (14 each), traumatism by cutting or piercing and tuberculosis of the lungs (9 each), unspecified causes of death (5), other diseases of the liver (4), leprosy, anemia, acute nephri-tis, and diseases of the skin (3 each), typhoid, smallpox, purulent infection and blood poison-ing, chronic bronchitis, asthma, and hookworm infection (2 each), and the remainder were one each.

In terms of nationalities taken care of, the report showed that 459 Filipinos (Christians and non-Christians) were treated; American, 1; Japanese, 24; European, 1; and others, 1. Americans usually sought the services of the military hospital. By European, it likely referred to a Spanish.

Among the patients ministered to, 376 were male and 111 females. As to classes of ser-vice, these were categorized into charity (213), government free (199), and private pay (74). Similarly, operations were also classified the same way. Of the prescriptions issued, 996 were deemed charity; 759 were government free; and 312 were for outside calls made by the hospi-tal staff.

In the last quarter of 1919, the hospital’s formal opening, the ledger of expenses shows the following: P2,385.22, the subsistence of patients; P805.00, the subsistence of

ATTY. GILBERTO LAUENGCO, J.D. OBLIQUE OBSERVATIONS

“Sometimes success is less about making good habits easy and more about making bad habits hard.” – James Clear

Last Sunday, Globe users in the Philippines were jolted by emergency alerts sent to their phones reminding them to register their SIM cards before the deadline. The alert with its unique jarring tone is normally used by the government to warn citizens of disasters or emergencies. Many of those who received the alert were upset for what they perceive was an improper use of the emergency alert system.

In response to these criticisms, Globe Group President and CEO Ernest Cu stated that “We are at a critical time as the deadline draws near, and we want to ensure that our customers are compliant with the law to avoid SIM deactivation. This way, they will continue to enjoy our call, text and data services for their day-today needs.” In another press release, Globe also defended personnel; P1,905.69, expenditures for the subsistence of patients and personnel; and P1,806.16, collec-tions.

Instead of 1920 as the projected date of completion of the Davao Public Hospital building, it was not until 1921 that the transfer of the operation was moved to the new structure. But this did not solve the growing number of patients seeking cures, which amounted to the shortage of space. The 1922 report of the Bureau of Health provides the explanation:

“In the Davao Public Hospital, the administrative office and hospital dispensary were temporarily quartered in the nurses’ dormitory due to lack of space. It is indeed amazing that despite the limitation of patients undertaken by most of the hospitals of the Division, the number of admissions during 1922 far exceeded that of the previous years.”