THE Mandaue City Government is set to prepare one of its old buildings to be used as an extension of the Mandaue City Hospital (MCH) in anticipation of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases increasing in the coming weeks.
The City’s Department of General Services (DGS) has started cleaning a two-story building on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, currently owned by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprises Zone Authority (Tieza), to be used as an extension of the MCH.
Once the old building is cleaned up, it is expected to house around 71 patients, said DGS head Marivic Cabigas.
Cabigas told SunStar Cebu although the building is still owned by Tieza, City and Tieza officials agreed that the building will be temporarily used as an isolation center.
Cabigas said DGS personnel will start preparing the building this weekend before they install the medical equipment provided by the hospital.
She said they target to finish preparations in at least three weeks.
She said the interior design of the proposed hospital extension will be the same as MCH’s emergency room where the beds are lined up and separated by curtains.
The proposed hospital extension will have 71 beds, of which 41 beds will be on the ground floor and 30 beds on the second floor, Cabigas said.
Earlier, MCH officials said that while they have 10 beds allocated for Covid-19 patients, they have already accomodated more than their allocated beds.
Cabigas said the proposed hospital extension will help MCH accommodate more patients, particularly those who are symptomatic.
As of Aug. 6, the Department of Health reported that Mandaue City has a total of 1,375 active Covid-19 cases. (KFD)