Hospital operations up and running

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.’s hospital operations and all services are up and running, while its mobile clinic that prioritizes typhoon victims in shelters is still ongoing.

CHCC public health planner Kaitlyn R. Neises said that mobile clinics have made it to all the shelters and are preparing a more regular schedule going forward.

“Hospital operations are fully functioning,” Neises said. “Our priority is obviously our regular operations but we are taking steps to make sure we prevent health problems in the community that commonly occur post-disaster.”

Neises also assured that rumors of a flesh-eating bacteria at the Commonwealth Health Center are “not true.”

FCC reopens

CHCC CEO Esther Muña announced yesterday that the Family Care Clinic at the hospital was reopened for services on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015. She said the decision to reopen the clinic was made “as the numbers show an increase in the need for urgent care and primary care services on an outpatient basis.”

She also said the Women’s/Infant Children Clinic and Kagman Community Health Center services remain in normal operations.

Mobile clinic, outreach

CHCC’s mobile clinic has already visited three Kagman shelters—Kagman Community Center, Kagman High School, and Chacha Oceanview Junior High School—and Tanapag Middle School.

CHCC’s operations scout team has assessed the shelters at the Garapan Elementary School and the Office on Aging to inform them of the deployment of the mobile clinic. The team also conducted immunizations, provided hygiene tips, and distributed hand sanitizers.

The Women’s/Infant Children program, HOME visiting, Early Intervention Services, and Hearing Screening teams were also deployed to Koblerville Elementary School and San Vicente Elementary School.

CHCC’s Community Guidance Center counselors have visited shelters at Tanapag, Garapan, and San Vicente elementary schools.

CHCC’s Bureau of Environmental Health staff conducted retail inspections at the northern region of Saipan.

Hospital admissions, as of Monday, was at 65. CHCC plans to have additional security at the hospital to ensure safety and crowd control.

External

The hospital will be receiving help from the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. CDC epidemiologists Dr. Thane Hancock and SPC epidemiologist Paul White arrived Monday and will be helping CHCC grapple with post-typhoon cases.

Two WHO doctors will also be arriving next week.

Shelter capacity

So far, 535 individuals remain in shelters as of 9am yesterday, according to CHCC’s census.

KCC has 44, KHS has 75, SVES has 78, KES has 60, GES has 44, Tanapag Middle has 48, Tanapag Head Start has 40, Office on Aging has 84, and Chacha Oceanview has 62.

CHCC has created a shelter health team with the help of visiting epidemiologists to plan and implement health assessments, surveillance, and outbreak response.