The KSP Team Checks The Handling Of COVID-19 In Medan City, Here Are The Findings

ILLUSTRATION/VOI

JAKARTA - A number of hospitals in Medan, North Sumatra are said to have anticipated a surge in COVID-19 patients by trying to increase patient care rooms.

This was conveyed by the Presidential Staff Office team while reviewing the handling of COVID-19 at a number of health facilities in Medan, North Sumatra.

"Out of Java and Bali in the last two weeks there has been a spike in cases, therefore the government needs to ensure conditions on the ground to evaluate improvements," said KSP Main Expert, Brian Sri Prihastuti, quoted by Antara, Friday, August 6.

She conveyed that a number of health facilities were committed to adding patient care rooms, namely Pirngadi Hospital and Siloam Hospital Medan.

The KSP team also visited Siloam Hospital and Padang Bulan Health Center in Medan to get a broader picture of the situation in handling COVID-19 in Medan.

Brian Sri emphasized that through field verification KSP reviewed in depth the flow of handling COVID-19 patients, the availability of oxygen, COVID-19 therapeutic drugs, the availability of treatment rooms, the number of health workers, and other data.

"We got information from pharmacies, health centers, and hospitals, the majority of them lacked COVID-19 therapeutic drugs and vaccine stocks. As for the oxygen supply, it is safe," she said.

Brian Sri hopes that the regional COVID-19 task force, local government, and officers at every health facility work together to be more serious in dealing with the possible spike in COVID-19 cases.

"Cooperation between parties will be very decisive in suppressing the rate of increase in the number of COVID-19," she said.

So far KSP has formed three field verification teams spread across three provinces, namely North Sumatra, East Kalimantan, and Central Sulawesi, to review the handling of COVID-19 and find solutions to problems that exist in the community during the implementation of PPKM.

Meanwhile, the Director of Pirngadi Hospital, Suryadi Panjaitan, said that they would increase the number of treatment rooms from 78 treatment rooms to 150 rooms. Meanwhile, Siloam Hospital will increase its capacity from 20 rooms to 50 treatment rooms.

Panjaitan explained that the funds for the addition of the treatment room were assisted by a budget from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. This additional treatment room is targeted to be completed and ready for use on August 12, 2021.

“Pirngadi Hospital is often a destination for COVID-19 patients from Medan and surrounding districts/cities. Currently, 80 beds are filled and the ICU is often full and there are even queues," he said.

The ideal, he said, is to avoid an overabundance of COVID-19 patients in one hospital, so there must be an even distribution of patient care by hospitals in their respective areas.

"It's better if zoning is made, COVID-19 patients are referred to the nearest hospital," he said.