Mae Sot hospital employs ‘village headmen’ to help deal with Covid-19 caseload
“The Story of the Frontier Doctor” (Ruang Lao Moh Chai Daen) Facebook page shared a post thanking Covid-19 patients in Tak’s Mae Sot district lending a much appreciated helping hand to doctors.
“Medics posted at the community and factory isolation centres, field hospital and Mae Sot General Hospital’s subsidiary ward are very appreciative of all that you have done. If it wasn’t for your help, all the doctors, nurses and patients would be in a bad condition,” the post read.
The post said the district has some 3,400 patients and Mae Sot General Hospital, which has a capacity of 350 beds, is stretched beyond its maximum capacity with 500 patients.
Therefore, to deal with these overwhelming numbers, the hospital decided to “employ” patients with mild symptoms to oversee their own ward. So far, 11 such wards or “villages” have been set up with each ward having a “village headman” and an assistant.
Each village headman is presented with a certificate and a 1,000-baht cash reward for their work. The so-called village chiefs are changed every 14 days.
As of Tuesday, Mae Sot’s Covid-19 caseload stood at:
• 695 patients in community isolation centres
• 1,280 in home isolation
• 566 in factory isolation
• 287 in the field hospital
• 464 at Mae Sot General Hospital's subsidiary ward
