Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution Asks Hospitals Not To Build COVID-19 Emergency Tents

MEDAN - Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution asked all hospitals in the local area not to build emergency tents for handling COVID-19 patients. The reason is that the bed capacity or bed occupancy rate (BOR) in a number of referral hospitals is still sufficient.

"We hope that the hospital can cooperate, follow the rules. If you really want to accommodate more of our people who have COVID-19, they can be substituted from existing beds, follow at least 30 percent," Bobby Nasution said, Monday, August 9.

Bobby Nasution also appealed that if there was an overcapacity in one hospital, immediately transfer the COVID-19 patient to another referral hospital.

He revealed, the occupancy of beds at the referral hospital in Medan City for the treatment of COVID-19 patients is currently still 73 percent.

"Our BOR in Medan is 73 percent. This is a really high number, previously it was only 30 percent. But there is still space for the BOR percentage, not 100 percent. If it's full, run to another hospital. We have 44 hospitals in Medan. one is full, the other hospital is still there," he said.

Bobby Nasution said that based on his findings, there are already two hospitals in Medan City that have built emergency COVID-19 tents, namely the Columbia Hospital and Hermina Hospital.

He admitted that he had ordered the two hospitals to dismantle the COVID-19 emergency tent and transfer COVID-19 patients to the referral hospital that had been provided.

"We say it's not like that. I have conveyed to the Regional Secretary, we asked for it to be dismantled and the hospital is willing to be dismantled. I have conveyed it to the hospital," he said.