A new treatment facility aimed at accommodating more COVID-19 patients at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City was inaugurated Monday.
Officials of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 led by chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr., Health Undersecretary and treatment czar Dr. Leopoldo Vega, Public Works Undersecretary Emil Sadain, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, and EAMC management attended the opening of the Center for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases (CERID).
The six-floor facility has a maximum capacity of 250 beds, significantly increasing East Avenue Medical Center's 600 hospital beds, according to Galvez.
The facility also has its own emergency room which can accommodate 20 to 40 patients, two intensive care units (ICUs) for 30 critical patients, an operating room, a labor, and a delivery room.
Galvez said the facility will initially be on partial operations as around 900 health care workers, including medical specialists, medical officers, nurses, nursing aides, paramedical personnel, and other support staff services are needed to make it fully functional.
Medical workers from Ilocos region (Region 1) will be sent to Metro Manila to augment the current workforce of EAMC at CERID.
The construction of the building started in 2016 with a budget of P516 million.
EAMC medical center chief, Dr. Alfonso Nunez, said the completion of the CERID came at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the country so they will make it a COVID-dedicated facility.
Further, Nunez said this was the response of the EAMC to the mandate of the Department of Health (DoH) to allot 30 percent of its total bed capacity for COVID-19 patients.
Galvez said the construction of more treatment and isolation facilities in Metro Manila and other nearby provinces will continue whatever the community quarantine status will be implemented in these areas.
Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and Laguna are under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until Aug. 18.
President Duterte is expected to announce the new quarantine status in these areas on Monday night or early Tuesday, Aug. 18.
However, Galvez emphasized that it should be coupled with an intensified contact tracing and expanded testing on the barangay level to prevent the further spread of the disease.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, chairperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), and NTF deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon, who is also the testing czar, failed to attend the event after they opted to go on self-quarantine.
Duque and Dizon were with Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano, who tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time, in an event in Antipolo City last Aug. 12.