The Atacames Covid-19 Center remained open for one year, providing warm and high-quality care to 900 patients who required intermediate medical attention due to contracting Covid-19. Due to a lack of interinstitutional agreements and economic resources to continue operating at high quality standards, Fundación Raíz Ecuador – Caemba decided to close its doors.
Initially, operations were planned to continue until December 2020; however, thanks to the Ministry of Public Health and the Lions Club, which provided the site where the center operated, its operation was extended until July 2021. Due to the high operational costs required to maintain a medical center of this nature and to avoid reducing care protocols, the center remained operational until the third week of July 2021.
Maritza Orellana, a field technician at Caemba, stated, «The Covid Center helped recover 900 people, with two deaths occurring among those who arrived in critical condition.» She also said, «Caemba provided care with a lot of love and respect for the citizens of Atacames and for everyone who was treated at the center.»
Interior of the Covid-19 Center in Atacames
Reuse of materials and medical equipment
Caemba plans to donate the main infrastructure of the bamboo Covid center to the addiction rehabilitation center in the Paz y Progreso sector in Tonsupa. «They need a space there to carry out therapy sessions and rehabilitation talks,» said Maritza Orellana.
The assembly and disassembly of bamboo structures are very simple. This allows for their reuse in other infrastructures.
Regarding the use of beds and other medical supplies, these will be taken to the hospital in the Muisne canton, south of Esmeraldas. Other high-tech equipment used for intermediate and intensive therapy has been transferred to the binational Franklin Tello Hospital in Nuevo Rocafuerte, Aguarico canton, Orellana province. There, the new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) will be equipped.
Another part of the laboratory equipment will be delivered to the S.I.S.A. Foundation, an organization that promotes health and is led by the Raíz Ecuador – Caemba Foundation. The equipment will be used by various local doctors who will work in a community laboratory located in the former municipal patronage facilities of Atacames.
