Rush to create new  facilities  as hospitals overflow

The adaptation of the Figali convention center in Amador,  to a 160-bed  medical for center patients with Covid-19 is near completion. The beds are urgently needed as hospitals are at saturation point and doctors fear they will be faced with “choices” of who is accepted or denied as happened in Europe at the height if the pandemic.

The Ministry of Health (Minsa) reported that this week began with the cleaning and sterilization of the building so that the facilities are in optimal condition for patients.

During a visit to the site, Health Minister Luis Francisco Sucre said that they are analyzing the setting of an area for semi-intensive care with 40 beds, which means that they will be left with 120 beds for moderate or mild patients.

He said they asked the handling the adaptation to work three shifts. to see if they receive the facilities on Saturday and that they will most likely be working next week

$700,000 has been budgeted for personnel to staff the new facilities,  and every day they are hiring professionals from different areas and they hope that when they start operating they will have the human resource ready.

The director of Infrastructure of the Minsa said that in addition to Figali they will adapt the Amador convention center, where they will enable 796 beds, for patients with Covid-19 in a moderate state.

The option of Atlapa as another place to house patients because it was very expensive to condition it. In the case of Atlapa, the health authorities had to make improvements to the ceiling and cleaning related to fiberglass. The works in Atlapa would represent an expense of $3 million, so the Minsa gave up on the idea. He made no mention of  the Chinese offer to provide a 1,500-bed facility at no cost.

However, it was decided to use part of the Higher Technical Institute in Tocumen (ITSE), where it is intended to install about 130 beds for mild and moderate patients.

The ITSE had a construction cost of $ 200 million and was built during the last government in order to train technicians.

According to the Minsa, carrying out the adaptation on this site would cost about $300,000 which represents savings compared to enabling Atlapa.