Helping Malabon public hospital cope with flooding

The staff and patients of San Lorenzo Ruiz Women’s Hospital (SLRWH), a government hospital in flood-prone Malabon City, are not easily daunted by flood waters. But even these deluge-hardened veterans were shocked when several typhoons—particularly  “Ondoy” in September 2009—and the habagat  (southwest monsoon rain) in August 2013 poured an unprecedented volume of rainfall in Metro Manila and in their hospital.

“The entire first floor of the hospital was flooded, so only the second floor remained functional. We struggled in transporting several patients to a tertiary hospital,” says Dr. Maria Isabelita “Happy” Estrella, SLRWH director.

SLRWH is a 10-bed capacity special first-level referral hospital under the Department of Health (DOH) caring for the health of women and children residing in Malabon, parts of Valenzuela, Caloocan, Obando as well as Tanza, Navotas.

As part of its Universal Health Care (UHC) agenda, the government through the Department of Health established the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP).

Provide funds

“One of the aims of HFEP is to provide funds to government-owned and operated hospitals and health facilities in order to improve their preparedness in coping with emergencies, such as natural calamities,” Health Undersecretary Teodoro J. Herbosa explained.

Through the HFEP, from 2010 to 2013, almost 6,000 health facilities across the archipelago were upgraded and rehabilitated. These include hospitals, rural health units and barangay health stations. SLRWH is one of the HFEP recipient hospitals.

“Although the renovations are not yet complete, our hospital has already improved dramatically. SLRWH is now a more presentable and comfortable place for patients and their family as well as for the hospital staff and employees,” Estrella says.

Renovation works

The completed renovation works in SLRWH have so far focused on structures damaged by flooding. These are:

• Renovation of the Administrative Unit;

• Conversion of training room to two additional wards (Pediatric and Medical), doubling bed capacity from 20 to 40;

• Construction of ramp to facilitate transport of patients from the first floor to the second floor;

• Renovation of clinical wards;

• Renovation of delivery room, labor room and operating room;

• Building of Transient Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Transient Intensive Care Unit to serve as temporary holding areas for patients prior to transport to tertiary hospitals on higher ground; and

• Renovation of emergency room and Outpatient Unit.

Planned renovation works include building of a new, modern façade; additional wards; a second-floor extension to accommodate the transfer of the Laboratory Unit from the first floor; additional office units to accommodate expected increase in manpower complement.

To support the DOH thrust of enhancing the disaster preparedness of government hospitals and health facilities, Novartis Healthcare Philippines donated an 18-foot fiberglass rescue boat, a water pump and a submersible sewage water pump to SLRWH.

“The equipment donated by Novartis will help us cope with the perennial flooding in our area, thereby enabling us to better serve our patients. The rescue boat will be used to transport patients to tertiary hospitals on higher ground. The pumps will be utilized to siphon excess rainwater from the hospital grounds to the nearby river,” Estrella says.

As a healthcare company dedicated to caring and curing, Novartis shares SLRWH’s focus on maternal and child health. In the spirit of public-private partnership, Novartis is also working with the DOH, Department of Science and Technology and private-sector stakeholders in various initiatives to enhance access to medicines and strengthen the country’s research and development capabilities.