BANGKOK (NNT) – Samut Prakan province will soon begin the conversion of a university auditorium into a field hospital for COVID-19 patients, in order to help alleviate the patient load at main hospitals.
As one of the 28 red-zone high control provinces for COVID-19 containment, Samut Prakan province is anticipating a possible increase in the number of cases, from the present active case identifying program, and community testing currently being performed, and has decided to set up a field hospital to increase the capacity of the healthcare system in case of a patient surge.
The province has received permission from Thonburi Rajabhat University to use the university’s auditorium at its Samut Prakan campus as a suitable site for the province’s field hospital. The permit was officially granted in a ceremony presided over by Provincial Governor Wanchai Kongkasem.
Once converted, the auditorium will become a 100-bed field hospital to accommodate COVID-19 patients with mild or no symptoms.
A special 40-bed ward called Hospitel will be arranged to accommodate serious COVID-19 patients in their recovery process after receiving treatment in a hospital for five days. These patients will be taken care of here until they complete a 14 day hospital stay.
The province expects its field hospital will help alleviate the situation of limited bed availability at main hospitals, because of the number of recovering COVID-19 patients.
