Wed | 05.19.2021 | 1:00 PM

PAGCOR’s Vice President for Enterprise Services Ricardo Faraon (4th from left) and Asst. Vice President for Community Relations and Services Ramon Stephen Villaflor (5th from left) lead the turnover of essential goods donated by the agency for the patients and medical staff of the Philippine General Hospital.

Philippine General Hospital Property and Supply Chief Administrative Officer Adett Idjao receives PAGCOR’s donation from AVP for Community Relations and Services Ramon Stephen Villaflor. Also in photo is VP for Enterprise Services Group Ricardo Faraon.

Donated items include personal protective equipment, alcohol, wipes, diapers and ready-to-eat food packs.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) immediately provided aid to state-run Philippine General Hospital (PGH), after a fire broke out on the third floor of the facility early Sunday morning, May 16.

PAGCOR donated 1,000 N95 masks, 100 personal protective equipment (PPE), 630 bottled (500ml) alcohol, 300 packs of wipes, 6,000 pieces of diapers for babies and ready-to-eat food packs.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo said the PGH called for emergency donations and appealed for food and non-food items for their patients after the incident.

“While the items we donated are some of the much-needed things that their patients and healthcare workers need most at the moment, we are still coordinating with the PGH management as to how we can help rebuild the area that was hit by the fire,” she said.

PGH Director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi said five of their sterilization units and the autoclave room that are vital in their operations were damaged by the fire.

“Ang inaayos namin ngayon yung resumption of surgical services and emergency room services kasi iyon ang naapektuhan ng malaki. We need quite a sizable amount of support to speed up the recovery. We are hoping that we can be fully functional in three months’ time,” he said.

Legaspi added that they have now resumed operations. “So far after the evacuation of more than 500 patients, we returned to normal in terms of accommodation. Nandun na sila sa mga wards nila, safe and secured. Our services are continuing. No casualty in our personnel and I give credit to all of them for a very orderly evacuation and return to the wards.”

The PGH Director also said they are getting much support from the government and private entities since the incident.

“We are getting overwhelming support. Some cabinet officials even came here to express their support for PGH, and now PAGCOR. To Chairman Andrea Domingo, thank you for the help. I am grateful to PAGCOR because you have been one of the biggest supporters of PGH through the years. You are always there to help us. I hope we do justice to your support by improving and making better services for our patients,” Legaspi expressed.

For years, PAGCOR has been giving support to PGH through various donations and financial assistance for the hospital’s charity patients. Since the pandemic started, PGH is also one of the public hospitals that receive PPEs and essential gears from the agency.

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