Villar: DPWH fast-tracks construction of health facilities for severe COVID-19 cases
DPWH Secretary Mark Villar with the healthcare workers. Contributed photo
MANILA, Philippines — Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark A. Villar said more health facilities will be built in an effort to aid hospitals that are overwhelmed due to recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
Villar said that aside from the quarantine/isolation facilities and dormitories for hospital workers, the DPWH is now focusing on the construction of modular hospital that will be able to accommodate patients with severe COVID symptoms.
DPWH Secretary Mark Villar with the medical staff at a COVID-19 facility. Contributed photo
“With the recent spike of cases and deaths, these modular hospitals are needed now more than ever, especially in the National Capital Region with ICU bed occupancy rate at high-risk,” Villar added.
“A total of 688 isolation facilities with 26,459 beds that will cater to asymptomatic and mild cases; 51 off-site dormitories with 1,320 beds; and 22 modular hospitals with 449-bed capacity have been completed to date,” Villar noted.
Contributed photo
The operational modular hospitals were built inside the Quezon Institute-Philippine Tuberculosis Society Inc. (QI-PTSI) in Quezon City with five units of modular hospital with 110 beds; 6 units at the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP) with 124 beds; Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital in Tala, Caloocan with 22 beds; National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) with 20 beds; V. Luna Medical Center with 22 beds; Pasig City General Hospital with 18 beds; 2 units in Las Piñas General Hospital and Satellite Trauma Center with 36 beds; Ospital ng Maynila with 22 beds; Batangas Medical Center in Batangas City with 31 beds; and 2 units in Southern Medical Center in Davao City with 44 beds.
Contributed photo
“We are working 24/7 for the completion of six additional units of modular hospital inside the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) in Mandaluyong City,” said Villar.
The ongoing project inside NCMH will hopefully bring relief to hospitals nearby as it accommodates up to 132 patients at a time.
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