Galang Island Hospital to Start Operation Early Next Week, Medical Personnel Being Prepared

KOMPAS/PANDU WIYOGA

Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto (second left) and Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadi Muljono (second right) visit on Wednesday (4/3/2020) the hospital of a former Vietnamese refugee camp on Galang Island, Batam, Riau Islands, which will be renovated into a hospital for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

A hospital with 360 rooms, currently being built on Galang Island, near Batam city, Riau Islands, is expected to start operation within the next three days. Medical workers are also being prepared to handle patients with Covid-19.

BATAM, KOMPAS — A 360-room hospital specializing in infectious diseases on Galang Island, Batam City, Riau Islands, will be ready for operation in three days. The focus now is to prepare medical workers so that the hospital can immediately serve patients infected with Covid-19.

Indonesian Military (TNI ) commander in chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said on Wednesday (3/25/2020) that the 360 rooms consisted of 340 observation rooms and 20 isolation rooms. Special isolation rooms will be equipped with negative pressure air filters and a centralized oxygen supply system.

"The completion of the hospital has reached 78 percent. So, in three days the hospital will be ready to use. However, we still need to train medical personnel so that this new health facility can be effectively operated starting Monday (3/30/2020)," Hadi said while inspecting the health facility on Galang Island.

KOMPAS/PANDU WIYOGA

Workers prepare a part in the isolation room of a special infectious disease hospital in Galang Island, Batam City, (20/3/2020). The walls of the modular building are made of sandwich panels

Hadi said the medical equipment for the hospital will be transported using a C-130 Hercules plane from Jakarta to Batam on Thursday (3/26/2020). According to the plan, on the same day, the equipment will be installed immediately in 360 rooms that have been prepared.

According to the initial plan, the hospital will have a capacity to accommodate 1,000 patients. Therefore, some workers will continue to work to complete the remaining parts of the hospital. "The constriction will continue until the target is achieved," said Hadi.

Later TNI will determine who will be treated on Galang Island.

Achmad Gani Ghazaly Akman, expert staffer for development integration of the Public Works and Housing Ministry, said that construction workers would be reduced to 500 people from 1,500 people previously. He said the remaining workers would be able to carry out their works safely even though the health facility will be operated to treat Covid-19 patients.

According to him, the infectious disease hospital on Galang Island will complement the health facilities that are already available at the Wisma Atlet compex in Jakarta to treat Covid-19 patients. "Later TNI will determine who will be treated on Galang Island," he said.