DPWH fast-tracks EAMC wards, ICU

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Public Works and Highways is speeding up the construction of additional wards and an intensive care unit (ICU) at the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC), DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said yesterday.

He said that in a meeting involving the DPWH team, its Department of Health (DOH) counterpart and the building contractor, “I was assured that a system is in place to complete the EAMC facilities the soonest.”

These facilities will be able to accommodate an additional 250 patients, Villar said.

Undersecretary Emil Sadain, who heads the DPWH task force to facilitate the augmentation of local and national healthcare facilities, said the ground and second floors of the new EAMC building are being used as COVID-19 wards.

The construction of wards on the third, fourth and fifth floors will be completed by Aug. 17. The ICU on the third floor will be completed on Sept. 15, Sadain said.

The DOH earlier tapped the DPWH to help expedite the construction of facilities at the EAMC to increase the hospital’s bed capacity for COVID-19 patients.

Meanwhile, the DPWH and DOH have approved the conceptual design for the proposed field modular hospital at the Quezon Institute (QI) to increase its capacity.

Five modular hospitals made of fabricated components with a total capacity of 110 beds will be built, according to Sadain.

Based on the design plans prepared by the DPWH and concurred by DOH Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega, each off-site modular hospital can accommodate 22 patients, with a room dedicated for health care professionals to put on and take off personal protective equipment.

Each field modular hospital will have a nursing station, equipment laboratory, pantry, storage, medical gas line, CCTV system and elevated pathway connecting clusters.

The DOH, QI and Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center will operate the modular hospitals and provide appropriate medical electro-mechanical devices.

Two off-site dormitories will also be constructed within the QI compound to serve as temporary shelters for around 64 health workers.