What if I bring home the virus? How will I go to work when transporation is limited? These are just a few of the questions that bothered the more than 2000 healthcare workers (HCWs) and personnel charged with fighting the invisible enemy in the hallowed halls of UP Manila National Institutes of Health and PGH. The PGH dormitories and lodging facilities offered by generous donors were just not enough. From the 12th to the 30th of March 2020, almost all HCWs who could not go home regularly were accommodated in hotels around PGH. The owners donated the free use of their hotels to the PGH HCWs.
When the transfer of the UP Manila Central Administration offices to the UP Manila Student Dormitory was completed, 124 beds were immediately allocated for the use of NIH personnel and PGH administrative personnel. The roll-up window blinds donated by the Showcase Carpet Center added a homey touch to these dormitory rooms.
The equally important security guards and Philcare workers however, slept in their respective areas of assignments in makeshift quarters using the first batch of mattresses donated by the Rotary Club of Makati through the initiative of Dr. Hazel P. Zuellig. Witnessing these difficulties faced by the community, Dr. Rodney Dofitas and Dr. Apple Valparaiso sought permission from the Office of the UP Manila Chancellor to allow security guards to use the College of Dentistry’s Auditorium as their sleeping quarters. With the strict health safety measures in place, Chancellor Carmencita D. Padilla and Dean Danilo Magtanong approved the request.
On April 2, 2020, the US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim personally donated 150 sleeping cots to UP-PGH Bayanihan Na! Operations Center for the use of our HCWs. Seeing the benefits of a systematic manner of providing in-campus lodging for our HCWs, all the deans in close coordination with the group of Dr. Dofitas and kind-hearted members of the UP Manila alumni, generously supported the program to convert their colleges into temporary lodging facilities which is now known as Panatag na Kanlungan, a safe haven in UP Manila for PGH frontliners. With all safety precautions and contingency plans in place, Chancellor Padilla assured the UP Manila community that working areas in their colleges-turned-housing-facilities would remain safe.
Today, the Panatag na Kanlungan has provided housing for as many as 420 PGH HCWs in the different buildings of UP Manila. The UP Manila alumni, Pi Sigma Delta, TOYM Foundation, PGH Chaplaincy, Tzu Chi Foundation, and PGH Housing team headed by Dr. Apple Valparaiso went the extra mile to provide linens, pillows, towels, laundry services, hygiene kits, water, and food. A steady supply of disinfectant and cleaning materials from various donors is being provided by the Bayanihan Na! Operations Center through Dr. Anthony Perez. Soon, the HCWs will begin enjoying warm showers in strategic areas when prefabricated stalls will be installed by donors in coordination with Dr. Hermogenes Monroy III.
