Patients who had to be evacuated from the wards affected by a fire at the Philippine General Hospital on Wednesday have been safely relocated within the hospital, the Department of Health said yesterday.

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa told reporters that all the affected offices and patients have been transferred to the atrium while patients in the intensive care unit were brought to the wards.  

Herbosa said some patients had to be transferred to other hospitals during and immediately after the fire that reached the second alarm after it broke out at 2:38 p.m. in the audiovisual room of the hospital’s Department of Medicine which was slated for renovation. 

The fire was declared under control at 3:45 p.m. and totally extinguished at 4:30 p.m. There were no reports of patients or hospital personnel injured in the blaze.

Damage was confined to the affected room only while utilities were restored after fire marshals cleared the area and allowed patients to go back to the wards.

“We will temporarily close admissions to the ER until further notice,” Herbosa said. He warned against scam calls asking for donations on behalf of the PGH. 

He said he has directed all DoH offices to conduct fire hazard assessments and fire drills.