The purpose-built Galang Island COVID-19 Specialty Hospital opened on Monday in Batam, Riau Islands province, but has yet to admit any patients, as it needs to test its medical equipment and ready its medical staff.

Indonesian Military Regional Defense Joint Command I (Kogabwilhan I) commander Vice Adm. Yudo Margono said during the hospital’s inauguration ceremony on Monday that the new hospital would prioritize returning migrant workers (TKI), as Indonesia expected an influx of its nationals to come home from Malaysia.

The returnees would first be quarantined at the Galang hospital and then transported back to their hometowns once they were declared healthy and free of the virus, said Margono, who led the hospital's development project.

"So the TKI will be placed under quarantine at the hospital. If some are sick, they can be treated directly at the hospital," Margono said. 

He added that the hospital would be treating any sick returnees to ease the burden on many hospitals in the regions, which had been overwhelmed by thousands of returning TKI.

Indonesian migrant workers typically return through Riau Islands province, including the islands of Karimun, Tanjungpinang and Batam.

The hospital wing that has opened was completed by the Public Works and Housing Ministry in the first phase of the project, and is designed specifically as an observation, quarantine and treatment facility for infectious diseases. The wing has 360 beds, with another 1,000 beds to be added upon completion of the second development phase.

Galang hospital, which occupies the 16-hectare site of a former camp for Vietnamese refugees fleeing the Vietnam War, has been built using modular architectural designs and consists of three zones. Zone A contains supporting facilities, including a dormitory for hospital staff and management that is equipped with 158 beds, a laundry room, a sterilization room and a pharmacy.

Zone B is a patient ward comprising a 20-bed intensive care unit (ICU) and 340 beds for monitoring patients. It also has a laboratory, a storage room for mobile roentgen equipment, a kitchen, a waste management facility and a clean water facility. Meanwhile, Zone C is intended for use in providing supporting services to the two other zones.

As for equipment, Galang hospital has 20 ambulances, four trucks, four minibuses, 2,000 protective personal equipment (PPE) and 5,000 medical masks.

The newly built hospital has a staff 247 personnel consisting of doctors, nurses, paramedics and nonmedical workers, all of who have been trained to support the specialty hospital's operation. The hospital staff consists of personnel from the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police and the Riau Islands provincial administration, as well as volunteers.

The hospital was developed under joint supervision of the public works ministry and the Riau Islands administration. State-owned developers PT Waskita Karya and PT Wijaya Karya oversaw its construction, along with PT Virama Karya as project management consultant. (roi)