Alternate care site nearly done

Jesse V. Sablan, left, president of Helios Engineering Group, and Samuel McPhetres, right, partner at GUMA Architects LLC, present the blueprint of Kanoa Resort’s transformation into an Alternative Care Site. (JUSTINE NAUTA)

The Alternative Care Site that’s meant to isolate active COVID-19 cases at the Kanoa Resort in Susupe will be completed within the next week and a half, according to the contractor that’s handling the renovation work.

Jesse V. Sablan, president of Helios Energy Group, which is the contractor behind the renovation work at Kanoa Resort, said the Alternative Care Site, which will take up the entire left side of the hotel lobby, will include a pharmacy storage, a staff room, an entry point for family to check up on how their loved ones are doing, a triage, a “red zone” where all active cases will be placed, a healed/discharge exit zone, as well as a patient elevator.

Patrick Guerrero of the Office of the Governor later stated that the Alternative Care Site is set to be finished by May 22.

The idea is to have a specific place where all COVID-19 cases will be handled outside the main hospital, thus enabling the hospital to handle people who do not have COVID-19. The Alternative Care Site will be converted back into a hotel once the CNMI is able to stamp out the coronavirus.

According to Sablan, the red zone is for patients who need intensive care and, as soon as they get better, they will be brought up to Kanoa Resort’s other rooms. “When they get better, they will be transported up to the second, third, fourth floor, which will be a medical telemetry version of this step down unit from ICU,” he said.

Each division of the Alternative Care Site at the lobby will be separated by panels that will serve as dividers. Samuel McPhetres, who is with GUMA Architects LLC that is helping Helios Energy Group in building the Alternative Care Site, said the panels can be taken down should they need more bed space. Also, this will be easier once the site has to be converted back into a hotel.

“We can take the panels off, break down the doors…reconfigure it to how we need it,” said McPhetres. “But in three months’ time, if we find we need more individual spaces, we can take these down and put it together with minimal disturbance to the rest of the facility.”

The idea behind the facility is it’s meant to be flexible where it can cater to patients’ doctors, nurses, and staff. Additionally, all 152 rooms of Kanoa Resort will be repurposed into a medical telemetry room with the same features as the red zone. The only difference between the red zone and the hotel rooms is that once a patient is in the hotel rooms, they will have privacy.

McPhetres stated that they still need to finish setting up sprinklers and getting the power ready for backup generators so that, once the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system is on island, the contractor will be ready to install it.

“There’s a lot of thought that went into this because this could be your family, could be my family,” said Sablan. “We’re doing what we can to make them comfortable.”

Alex Sablan, who is vice president for Corporate Business Development at TanHoldings, which owns the hotel, believes that the CNMI has “flattened the curve” and credits the reduction requirements of Gov. Ralph DLG Torres as carried out by the Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force for this feat. “Flattening the curve” refers to reducing infection rates.

“I think we all believe that that curve has been flattened considerably, but we need to be prepared,” said Alex Sablan.

He added that just like every jurisdiction in the United States, the CNMI has been prepared to handle any potential COVID-19 breakout. “There is going to be a timeline that we see out with this current model, but COVID-19 is here until there is a vaccine, until there is a true treatment,” said Alex Sablan.

To date, the CNMI has a total of 19 COVID-19 cases, with five active cases, 12 recoveries, and two deaths.

COVID-19 in Guam

One additional COVID-19 case has been reported by the Guam Regional Medical City.

To date, there have been 152 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Guam, with five deaths and 124 released from isolation. As this is an evolving situation, information is subject to change with little to no notice.