Patients Will Stay In Mount Elizabeth Hospital In Orchard Until They Recover Fully, Test Negative for Covid-19
As the battle against Covid-19 continues, healthcare workers are doing their best to keep the spread at bay, while treating patients who are been infected.
With the expected onslaught of cases as more Singapore residents return from overseas, the private healthcare sector has stepped in to help out.
On Monday (23 Mar), 29 recovering Covid-19 patients were transferred from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) to Mount Elizabeth Hospital’s Orchard Road branch, reported The Straits Times (ST).
Move frees up space for patients who need more attention
The move was in a bid to free up space at the NCID, to cater to patients who need more care and medical attention.
Mount Elizabeth Orchard is the first of the four private hospitals under Parkway Hospitals Singapore to receive Covid-19 patients from the public sector.
According to ST, the 29 recovering patients are no longer ill, or require less medical attention, but are not completely cleared of Covid-19 yet.
They will remain warded in Mount Elizabeth until they are fully recovered and test negative for Covid-19, so they will no longer risk spreading the coronavirus to others.
Parkway Hospitals prepared to receive more Covid-19 patients
Parkway Hospitals’ senior vice-president of operations, Dr Noel Yeo, told ST that Parkway Hospitals’ 4 hospitals — Mouth Elizabeth Orchard, Mouth Elizabeth Novena, Gleneagles and Parkway East — were prepared to receive more Covid-19 patients.
While this is the first time that a Parkway hospital has received Covid-19 patients from the public sector, Parkway Hospitals has previously received and treated multiple Covid-19 patients, and are thus prepared to treat them.
Dr Yeo mentioned that they had been “actively managing Covid-19 patients in several of (their) facilities”.
According to ST’s report, 2 Indonesians had visited Gleneagles for treatment.
Concerns about Covid-19 patients infecting others in hospital
Some concerns have been expressed that the patients are on the same floor as the maternity ward, but Dr Yeo assured them that necessary precautions would be taken.
He said,
The same stringent safety protocols and precautionary measures will apply for these new patients, who will be housed in a single ward at the hospital.
On top of sanitising and cleaning the areas the transferred patients passed through, all staff working in the areas where the patients are must wear protective gear while working.
Furthermore, patients are not permitted to leave their ward, or to receive any visitors.
Hope for other private sector hospitals to “rise to the call”
Dr Yeo called for other hospitals from the private healthcare sector to “rise to the call and play their parts to complement these efforts”.
He added, according to ST:
We have been working closely with the Ministry of Health on joining the national effort against Covid-19, and how private sector resources may be utilised to alleviate the load on public healthcare institutions.
This comes after MOH’s director of medical services, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, mentioned that MOH is considering collaborating with the private healthcare sector in this regard, reported ST.
Heartening to see healthcare sectors coming together
For the most part, the public healthcare sector has shouldered the burden of fighting against Covid-19.
Seeing members of the private healthcare sector stepping up to do their part is heartening, and just reminds us that everyone is obligated to do their part.
MS News wishes all patients a speedy recovery, and hopes that the collaborative efforts between the public and private healthcare sectors prove to be just what we need to tackle the pandemic.
Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
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