Senator Cynthia Villar led on Monday the inauguration of a modular hospital and the groundbreaking of an additional 12 storeys of Las Piñas General Hospital and Satellite Trauma Center to boost the city’s health facility amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The modular hospital, undertaken by Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, is across LPGH & STC and is complete with ventilation systems, oxygen lines, and air conditioning units with a 39-bed capacity for COVID patients.
The facility, the senator said, would decongest LPGH & STC as it handles mild and moderate COVID-19 cases.
The DPWH has been building modular hospitals to augment the country’s healthcare facilities and to ensure unhampered care for COVID patients.
The expansion of LPGH & STC, according to the senator, was in line with Republic Act No. 11497 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte that ordered the upgrading of its bed capacity from 200 to 500 beds.
The senator said P644 million has been earmarked for the expansion of the hospital which was established in 1977 initially as an outpatient clinic.
“We are in the middle of a health care crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic, according to global health experts themselves, is here to stay. But as it stands now, existing hospital facilities are not enough to meet the requirements. So, I believe increasing the bed capacity of government hospitals will be a big help to the people,” she said.
“Once the expansion of LPGH & STC is completed, the facilities for COVID-19 and non-COVID patients can be separated to avoid the spread of the virus. That would also ensure regular health care services are not disrupted,” Villar added.