Palau gained a brand new, state-of-the-art self-contained ICU Isolation unit last week during an official turnover from the Government of Japan through JICA.
The project, worth over 5 million USD, is a prefabricated facility, fully equipped, containing four beds, and medical equipment fully installed and ready for use.
The facility comes with a series of training with Palauan doctors and nurses with their Japanese counterparts. The facility has the capacity for telemedicine, allowing doctors and nurses to consult in real-time with medical experts outside of Palau.
“In the last few years, we’ve seen COVID, and we understand the need for critical medical equipment to provide human security…I believe this project goes to help people. There’s only so much the doctors can do, the nurses can do without the proper equipment,” said President Surangel Whipps, of the critical ICU donated by the government of Japan.
Japan Ambassador Orikasa Hiroyuk, turning over the facility, said, “In Palau, there are always dedicated people, like yourselves, who are working daily to help people, but we can always do better and enhance the medical capacity to succeed, not only for COVID response but also to other critical medical issues.”
“This new ICU unit will not only allows us to give better care to our patients but also allows our staff..to have pride that they are providing care to the most critically ill in a modern facility with state-of-the-art equipment,” Minister of Health & Human Services expressed on behalf of the Ministry of Health.
The facility is self-contained with its own oxygen-making equipment and a power generator. The facility was funded and managed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). (By: L.N. Reklai)
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