Public Health Ministry to resume full services at border district hospitals
Public Health Ministry says Sa Kaeo district hospitals will resume full services on Wednesday if the ceasefire holds on Tuesday; 660 shelters remain open.
The Ministry of Public Health announced on Monday that it will resume full medical services at district hospitals in Sa Kaeo and other border provinces after the ceasefire enters its third day on Tuesday, provided it continues to hold.
The announcement was made by Dr Ekkachai Piansriwatchara, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Public Health, after a meeting of the ministry’s Emergency Health Operations Centre.
Ekkachai said the centre had seen signs of improvement after two days of the ceasefire. As a result, it would consider resuming full services at district hospitals in Sa Kaeo and other provinces, which were closed after fighting broke out on December 8.
He said full services at border district hospitals would resume on Wednesday.
If the ceasefire holds on Tuesday, he said, the Sa Kaeo Provincial Public Health Office will provide ambulances to take bed-bound patients from shelters back to their homes.
In addition to reopening district hospitals in Sa Kaeo and other border provinces, the ministry will send medical teams to provide counselling to families of fallen soldiers and to vulnerable groups affected by tensions linked to the border situation.
He said the ministry will also closely monitor the border areas for possible disease outbreaks for 14 days, particularly food- and water-borne illnesses, especially during the New Year holidays.
Ekkachai said 660 evacuation shelters remained open, housing 80,981 evacuees. He added that officials were also monitoring people under severe stress who might be at risk of self-harm.
According to Ekkachai, healthcare facilities in risk areas have begun resuming services as follows:
- Fully operational: Kantharalak Hospital, Si Sa Ket (resumed on December 29)
- Partially operational (emergency/OPD): Kap Choeng Hospital and Phanom Dong Rak Chalerm Phrakiat 80th Anniversary Hospital, Surin
- Still closed (six facilities): Phu Sing Hospital (Si Sa Ket); Ban Kruat Hospital (Buri Ram); Ta Phraya Hospital, Khok Sung Hospital, Khlong Hat Hospital and Aranyaprathet Hospital (Sa Kaeo)
