MAKATI MEDICAL Center (MMC) will set up a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination drive-through facility in the Convergys parking lot on Dela Rosa corner Salcedo Street near the hospital. No definite date has been set for the facility’s opening and there is no word either as to which vaccines will be available. Applications will be done online.
The vaccination facility expands on MMC’s COVID-19 consultation service, which is done in the same parking lot Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Patients can purchase add-ons such as swab tests, chest X-rays, and other lab tests.
“We are going to introduce drive-thru vaccination with our Convergys parking facility,” said MMC Medical Director Dr. Saturnino P. Javier at a recent roundtable discussion. “We have already laid out the plans, including where our patients will park when they need to get monitored after vaccination.”
Pilar Nenuca P. Almira, MMC’s president and chief executive officer, said that the hospital will not profit from the vaccination efforts. “We are not to make money from the help to vaccinate more people. Whatever is the price by which we would be acquiring vaccines, that is exactly just the price that we will be passing on to the patients or to the citizens,” she said.
As of June 24, MMC had already vaccinated 98% of its hospital personnel.
In addition to assisting the government with the vaccination rollout, MMC is sharing services with 100 hospitals nationwide and setting up outpatient centers in residential buildings. It recently partnered with Discovery Primea to offer services wherever Discovery Suites is located.
Home care also includes teleconsultation and telemedicine services geared toward mild and moderate cases of COVID-19. Dr. Javier emphasized the need for early patient monitoring using oximeters that track oxygen levels to avoid hospitalization during surges where hospitals are full.
“For as long as there’s still possibility of a surge and herd immunity has not yet been achieved, we will not let our guard down. Everything will still be there,” he said. — B. H. Lacsamana
