DR. RICARDO Ruñez Jr., medical center chief II of Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, is calling for compassion for medical frontliners.
Ruñez admitted medical health workers are now victims of discrimination since the Covid-19 pandemic escalated.
The hospital chief said now that health workers are handling Covid-19 cases in the city, people have been noted to keep their distance from them, worried that the threat of infection may contaminate them.
Ruñez said health workers have also been reported to have been refused rides as they go home from hospital duty or when they travel to work.
As Runez appealed to the public, he said the health workers are fully protected as they wear their personal protective equipment [PPE].
"As long as they have PPEs, hindi sila nakaka hawa... handa naman kami makipaglaban sa Covid, kailangan lang namin ng PPE (they are not contagious. We are ready to fight Covid, we only need PPE)," Runez added.
Previously, the City Government made a call to hotels near hospitals to provide accommodation for health workers with Starwood hotel responding first to the plea.
Starwood has opened their doors for medical frontlines who may need to rest after hospital duties and have no transportation to ferry them home.
Another private company, 3Bu hostel, opened their Upper Bonifacio and Gov. Pack facilities for medical frontlines.
"We thank all our front liners for your amazing work. As a sign of our appreciation, 3Bu Hostel is open for health care workers of different hospitals as resting area for free," the hostel management said.
The hostel asks front liners to coordinate with the following for accommodation: for doctors, please contact Dr. Jewel Cham at (0917)506 – 1610 while for other health care workers, please contact Krissen Faith Paneloat (0939)914 - 4805 or (0927)480 – 2452 and Aldrick 'chiki' Zabala Agpaoa at (0917)858 – 2238.
The hostel said due to the limited beds, this is a first-come-first-served basis but is subject to prioritization.
"We'll give priority to those living farthest from town, those near city center but need to isolate themselves from home, those who have difficulty accessing public transportation," the management added.
3Bu hostel assured safety protocols will be in place.
