The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to construct more off-site hospitals across the country to cater to the increasing number of people infected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar, who is also the government’s isolation czar, said the capacity expansion of major hospitals is on-going through the use of pre-fabricated components, which is designed to speed up the construction process.
Villar also announced the start of construction works for additional pop-up structures at the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP) in Quezon City following a meeting of the DPWH Task Force for Augmentation of Local/National Health Facilities headed by Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain and LCP Executive Director Dr. Vincent M. Balanag Jr.
Villar said last week that the National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila still has the highest bed occupancy rate in the country (66.17 percent) as far as Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities (TTMF) for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases is concerned.
The DPWH is the agency largely involved in the construction of temporary treatment and monitoring facilities nationwide as part of the country’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Citing Sadain's report, Villar said ground works for additional five cluster units of off-site hospitals with 110 beds for moderate, severe, and critical patients already began on Saturday, April 17.
As a form of infrastructure support to LCP, the DPWH earlier built modular facilities composed of eight fully airconditioned rooms that can accommodate 16 moderate, severe, and critical cases.
This is on top of 16 rooms with double-decker beds that serve as temporary shelter for health professionals taking care of patients.
Upon Villar's instruction, Sadain met with National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) Medical Center Chief Noel V. Reyes and discussed the preparatory plans and proposed concept design for the construction of a Mega Modular Off-Site Hospital at NCMH compound in Mandaluyong City.
At least 11 cluster units of makeshift hospitals with a 242-bed capacity dedicated to COVID-19 patients can be put up by DPWH, it was learned. The NCMH and DOH will manage the facilities.
The DPWH is also proposing the construction of three cluster units of off-site dormitories with 96 beds as temporary shelter for medical professionals who will man the NCMH Mega Modular Off-Site Hospital.