DOH: 177 health facilities affected due to Abra quake

A total of 177 health facilities were affected or damaged by the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit Abra last Wednesday, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said these facilities consist of hospitals, rural health units, barangay health stations, and city and municipality health offices.

“Ang badly affected talaga ay ‘yung sa Abra, ‘yung ating Abra Provincial Hospital kung saan madali naman naming napuntahan ang area na ito at nakapag-set up po tayo dito ng mga tents at tayo ay nag-deploy ng mga equipment para sa ospital na ito,” she said in a CNN Philippines interview.

(The one that is really badly affected is the Abra Provincial Hospital. We were able to go to this hospital easily and we were able to set up tents and deploy equipment for them.)

She said that a Philippine Medical Emergency team composed of specialists from various government hospitals is already assisting the said hospital so there would be no disruption of medical services.

“Tuloy-tuloy natin [silang] imo-monitor. We are going to go around these damaged facilities so that we can see how we can be able to assist para magawan na ng repairs at magamit na rin po. Although they are functional, but we need to restructure or we need to ensure na safe po ito para sa ating mga pasyente,” Vergeire added.

(We will continue to monitor them. We are going to go around these damaged facilities so that we can see how we can be able to assist, and so that repairs can be made in the facilities and they can be used again. Although they are functional, we need to restructure them and ensure that they are safe for our patients.)

DOH alternate spokesperson Undersecretary Beverly Ho earlier said that they have sent trucks carrying 20 tents, 200 cot beds, hygiene kits, medicines, and other supplies to affected areas by the earthquake.

The Abra quake has left at least nine confirmed fatalities and more than 350 individuals injured, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Sunday. One more fatality was being validated.

A total of 21,890 homes were also damaged by the quake in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and National Capital Region. Of this number, 302 were totally damaged, while 21,588 were partially damaged. —KG, GMA News