Bohol awaits modular hospital from national gov’t to raise COVID-19 bed capacity

Tubigon’s 16-bed isolation facility took only a month to construct as it is mostly made of pre-fabricated materials.

The Provincial Government of Bohol has raised to national authorities its need for modular hospital units after the province was elevated to Alert Level 4 by the Department of Health due to an increase in its hospital bed utilization.

Governor Art Yap, during a virtual meeting with mayors and national government agencies on Tuesday, relayed the request for the modular hospital units to Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing, said Provincial Health Office chief Dr. Yul Lopez.

“Gipasupot sa atong gobernador ang kinahanglan na mga modular hospital units dinhi sa sa Bohol aron madugangan ang kapasidad sa atong lalawigan sa pagpangandam sa mga pangahitabo kay nasayod man ta na ang Delta variant is more infectious,” Lopez added.

The Department of Health (DOH) earlier placed Bohol on alert level 4, the highest COVID-19 alert classification.

Lopez explained that Bohol was elevated to the peak alert level after it breached the 70-percent mark in terms of occupancy of hospital beds for coronavirus patients.

According to Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief Anthony Damalerio, the initial plan is to establish the modular hospital at the defunct Tagbilaran City Airport, which has a wide unutilized space.

“Ang dungog nako is ana sa old airport ipa-establish kay naay kurinti, naay tubig unya dako ang area,” said Damalerio.

He noted that the project will be funded by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The facility will be similar to the newly erected isolation center in Tubigon, which was also established through the DPWH.

Tubigon’s isolation facility was built using mostly pre-fabricated materials, cutting short the construction time.

“Dali ra kaayo na mahuman mura’g 45 days ra,” said Damalerio.

Based on data from the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) of the Bohol Inter-Agency Task Force, only eight of the province’s 51 COVID-19 ICU beds in five hospitals were available as of Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, 64 of the 242 COVID-19 ward and isolation beds in hospitals across the province were available. (A. Doydora)