The provincial government of Eastern Samar has acquired new sets of modern equipment worth P51-million to the boost medical response capabilities of its hospitals amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Governor Ben Evardone said these were procured in June and delivered to different hospitals on the last week of July, using their Bayanihan fund from the national government.
The Eastern Samar Provincial Hospital (ESPH) in Borongan City received the bulk of equipment which include two each of ventilators, defibrillator machines, and cautery machines, six X-ray machines, five cardiac monitors, 10 electrocardiogram machines, and 200 sets of mechanical bed with side tables.
They were also provided with 410 sets of personal protective equipment, 100 oxygen regulators, and 95 boxes of disposable surgical masks, Evardone said.
“We want to establish modern hospitals in the province.”
“We want to establish modern hospitals in the province. We have to improve them, so we become ready for any eventualities,” he added.
The provincial government has also procured 50 ceiling fans and 10 heavy-duty air coolers and air-conditioning units.
Evardone said they also set aside funds for the construction of X-ray rooms and conversion of existing wards to COVID-19 wards in the district hospitals of Oras, Arteche, Taft, Balangiga, Gen. MacArthur, Guiuan.
“We at ESPH and the rest of the district hospitals in the province are thankful for the support of Governor Evardone to the health sector. This is just the beginning of a series of improvement plans that the provincial government has initiated,” ESPH officer-in-charge Jessica Sabalberino said.
Sabalberino said one of the major plans of the provincial government is the construction of a P300 million four-story hospital building equipped with modern medical facilities inside the ESPH complex.
She said it is part of the upgrading of the province’s top hospital from a Level 2 to Level 3 health care facility or medical center.
The provincial government targets to start its construction before the year ends.
“With these improvements, we could diagnose more accurately.”
“With these improvements, we could diagnose more accurately the disease of the patients which in turn will result in the proper management of patients,” Sabalberino said.
To date, the province has an active COVID-19 case, a resident of Lawaan town, as its first three patients from Borongan City and the towns of Mercedes and Guiuan have already recovered, the provincial health office said.
Meanwhile, Eastern Visayas has confirmed a total of 1,083 cases, including 743 recoveries and four deaths, based on the Department of Health monitoring report.