Flu season is here. As many of the island’s vulnerable residents succumb to “coughs and colds,” the Guam Memorial Hospital had to impose a “divert” situation over the weekend.
Reporting on this story is PNC’s, Althea Engman.
Guam’s only public hospital saw an influx of pediatric patients last week due to Guam being in a “season of coughs and colds,” says GMH spokesperson Cindy Hanson to PNC.
Hanson says that GMH saw more pediatric patients than usual due to the flu season.
As a result of the high number of patients coming in, the pediatric unit has been at capacity and has had a longer wait time for incoming patients, Hanson said.
Moreover, with the high number of sick and injured patients of all ages in the Emergency Department, GMH had to go into a divert status over the weekend.
Fortunately, according to Hanson, GMH is no longer on divert status, however, she adds that it could change depending on the number of patients in the ER.
Emergency Room Diversion happens when a hospital and its emergency room are overloaded to the point that they can no longer safely accommodate another patient.
The hospital will declare itself on a “diversion” status, meaning that it cannot accept new ambulance arrivals until it can recover to what they deem a safer time.
Reporting for the Pacific News Center.
I’m Althea Engman
