My Daughter Was Confined in Paranaque Medical Center

It was that fateful Thursday, September 15, when we rushed our little toddler to the hospital because she hasn't recovered with her flu or influenza. A few days earlier, she suffered 2 days of high fever (due to the flu) and then it disappeared on its own. We only gave her Tempra and then switched to Bioflu for kids. We thought she was going to be fine because she was fever-free for two days. But on the 3rd day, her temperature skyrocketed to 38.7 degree Celsius in a snap. We also noticed her cough did not disappear and she barely ate nor drank fluids. That was the time we decided to go to the hospital. 

At the Las Pinas Doctors Hospital

We went to Las Pinas Doctors Hospital (LPDH) because it is our go-to place whenever one of us got sick. It was our "suki" hospital. We arrived at 3PM and went to the ER. The ER nurse asked me about my concern and I explained it to him. He took  my toddler's temperature and it was 36.8 degree Celsius. Since he thought my toddler's condition is not life threatening, he said we should consult first with  a pediatrician on what to do and also the ER doctors were all busy at the time. In fairness, there was indeed a lot of patients in the ER at the time and I noticed a lot of them were children who were coughing so hard. 

So then we went to the Industrial Office to have our Maxicare card validated for a pedia consult. After 15 minutes of waiting, we proceeded to the pedia's office located in another building. When we arrived at her office, we waited for a few minutes.  When the pedia saw us, she asked what happened and I explained. She instantly noticed that my child was already weak and her lips were so dry and chapped, an obvious sign of dehydration, so she recommended that my child be confined immediately. 

We went back to the ER and gave the ER nurse the doctor's instructions. We were given a bed and was told to wait while my husband tries to reserve a room for us. We waited while my child was lying on the bed sleeping because she had no energy anymore. 

It was 7:30PM, my husband returned and tells me that there was NO room available for us. We were  in 9th place waiting for a room or on standby. I was really frustrated, tired, and disappointed that they can't accommodate us, but part of me knows that we can't control the situation. So at around 8PM, my husband and I decided to move to another hospital. It was then we decided to go to Paranaque Medical Center because it's nearer our residence. We were actually a bit hesitant to go because of some negative comments I heard about them, but still we went given the benefit of the doubt.

At the Paranaque Medical Center 

At 9PM, we arrived at the hospital. I was praying that a pedia was available at that time because it was already late. We went to the ER and thankfully a doctor was indeed available with 3 attending nurses. There were also 3 more children patients there; one was hit on the head, and two of them were coughing profusely with fever. But still, it was not as crowded as in LPDH. 

At the Paranaque Medical Center Emergency Room 

The doctor asked about my daughter's condition and we explained. One of the nurses took our Maxicare card and validated the card right then and there. We didn't go to any other office. Since we also got the pedia's prescription from LPDH, we didn't have to explain much because everything was written there.  The doctor told my husband to reserve a room in the admitting office. After 15 minutes, my husband returned telling me that everything was fixed; we had an available room and he already got the remote control for the TV. I was quite surprised with how fast the processing was and so did my husband. He asked the admitting office if Maxicare will cover the room and they confirmed, "Yes, sir. It's covered." I mean, wow! If we were in LPDH, I had to talk to someone from Maxicare through phone and explain things before we could get an approval for the confinement. In Paranaque Med, it was taken care of instantly. 

Before we left the ER, the doctor and nurses had to place a needle (for the dextrose) at the back of my child's hand which was a tough one.  My daughter cried because of the pain and discomfort. But after a while, she stopped crying probably because she no longer felt the pain or she was tired.

It was 9:45PM, I was seated at a wheelchair while I carried my child. The nurse pushed my chair as we proceeded to the X-Ray room to check my daughter's lungs/chest.   I noticed as we went there, the hospital building was indeed very old and very scary during the night. The X-ray room was also creepy. When they turned on the X-Ray, my daughter and myself got scared because of the loud noise coming from the machine. But thankfully after 30 seconds, it was all done. We then proceeded to our room.

Room 304

Around 10:30PM, we got the room 304. It was spacious compared to the rooms we had before in LPDH, but the walls and curtains were noticeably old. On the other hand,  I was glad there was a sofa and a chair for visitors and their Panasonic CRT TV looks decent and has a strong and clear cable signal. As an added bonus, there's a nearby Pokestop at the hospital so I got to replenish my Pokeballs during our stay. 

Furnitures were okay: chair, sofa, and the new Panasonic aircon (it was cold as ice when we entered). The old and damaged floor tiles bothered me at first, but I got used to it. It looks like that, but it's clean.  We also have a telephone inside the room.

The Panasonic TV, the table and chair, and the small National ref ( an old ref, but functions like new)

My daughter  feeling weird with her room. Plus, I really hate those curtains. 

The next day, my husband went the ground floor to take care of his Philhealth. There was a Philhealth booth and the person in charge took his Philhealth number and checked his record. Everything seemed fine. The system confirmed that our daughter is his dependent so he did not have to submit any forms. The person just said, "Okay na sir." This was another wow factor for us because the last time my husband processed his Philhealth, he had to go to the nearest Philhealth office to get a copy of his Member Data Record  (MDR) and then submit to the hospital. We're just glad he didn't have to do that anymore. 

The next day, our new doctor came in (Dr. Calub) and she informed us that my daughter's X-Ray confirmed that she has acute bronchitis. If it hadn't been treated immediately, it could have developed into pneumonia. She will be given some medicines and we will observe her condition. 

*I also noticed her assistant doctor ( I didn't get his name ) and that he was wearing an Asian Hospital white coat so I figured he was also an attending physician in that hospital. I was like, "Wow. Doctors here are also doctors in Asian Hospital which is an expensive and well-known hospital in the south. We're quite lucky."

My daughter on nebulizer while sleeping

So in the duration of our stay, my daughter was given antibiotics for 2 days and then eventually some Cetirizine for the runny nose, and nebulizer for her lungs. I was really worried because she wasn't eating nor drinking anything since Thursday. But on Saturday morning, she was fever-free and she started eating small portions of food especially fruits like banana and apples. Sunday morning, she was still fever-free and when they checked her blood, everything was normal. We were so happy. Her appetite also returned gradually, but I noticed she was more thirsty than hungry so we just gave her whatever she wanted - water, yogurt drink (Dutchmill), juices, etc. 

Sunday, 10:45AM, our attending nurse said that we can already check out by noon and he already forwarded our bills to the Billing/Accounting Department. We can simply call their local number to check if they're done with the computations.  Another wow factor for us! Before, we were the ones who had to process the papers and forward it to Accounting. It was the first time for us that the nurses were the ones who handled the processing of documents for us. After almost an hour, the Accounting Dept. called our room informing us that the bill is ready for pick-up. My husband went down and paid the miscellaneous fee of P99. If we didn't have a Maxicare card, we would have paid an estimate of P22,000 (all in).

After paying, our attending nurse gave us some final notes from our pediatrician and instructed us what to do and what medicines to buy for my daughter to take when she gets home. After that, at exactly 12 o'clock, we checked out! No other feeling of relief can be described as we're checking out because my daughter is feeling better and we can finally rest in our home. 

Checking out on a Sunday noon

So in general, our experience was good. The nurses were very professional and courteous, as well as the staff who cleaned our room every day. So despite the old building and furnishings, we were no longer bothered by it because our goal was to have my little girl treated immediately and have the care that she needs, which we did get from Paranaque Medical Center. 

Here are some pictures I took of the hospital.  There was also a Cafe France booth on the ground floor which was nice because I love their breads. There's also a big PNB (Philippine National Bank) ATM machine at the ground floor where you can do your cash withdrawals. 

PNB ATM Machine right beside the Philhealth information section (the person in charge is on lunch break)

Accounting Dept.

Information Dept.

*A slight inconvenience during our stay was the parking because they're currently renovating their parking space. My husband had to park our car in SM City BF which is just right in front of the hospital so it wasn't so bad. 

A big thank you to Maxicare and Paranaque Medical Center for the immediate care you've given my daughter. Thank you very much and God bless! May you continue to save a lot of lives.