Medical Services Dept to check safety of Bangkok hospitals' buildings

The Medical Services Department has set up a committee to assess the structural safety of hospital buildings in Bangkok after the capital suffered damage due to seismic wave amplification from the Myanmar earthquake on Friday.

The department posted on its Facebook page that its emergency operations centre held a meeting on Saturday and resolved to implement several measures to ensure that earthquake victims and patients continue to receive treatment without disruption.

The department stated that Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin had ordered the establishment of a committee, including engineers, to inspect hospital buildings at risk or damaged by the earthquake to ensure patient safety and the continuity of treatment.

The committee will specifically examine the buildings of Rajavithi and Lerd Sin hospitals, which sustained damage due to seismic wave amplification from the earthquake.

The department added that it would enforce a business continuity plan for hospitals to enable damaged facilities to resume medical services as soon as possible.

Hospitals under the department will provide service updates via all communication channels, including Facebook pages.

The department also instructed all its hospitals to mobilise staff and establish shift rotations to ensure continuous treatment for both outpatients and inpatients.

Rajavithi Hospital has transferred 162 inpatients to other hospitals due to damage sustained on Friday.
Additionally, the department has deployed its medical emergency response team to the site of the collapsed building in Chatuchak district, along with medical staff from several public hospitals, to provide emergency healthcare to victims on a round-the-clock basis.