Burnham Green, Quirino Grandstand now mobile medical sites

DEPARTMENT of Tourism (DoT) Secretary Bernadette RomuloPuyat announced that a temporary mobile hospital and a drive-thru vaccination site will soon rise at the Rizal Park in Manila.

In a meeting, the Board of Directors of the National Parks Development Committee (NPDC), an attached agency of the Department of Tourism, unanimously approved the proposal of Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso to construct a temporary mobile hospital at Burnham Green in Rizal Park.

In a letter dated April 12, Mayor Domagoso formalized his request to NPDC Executive Director Cecille Lorenzana Romero to construct a temporary mobile hospital in Rizal Park “in anticipation of a possible surge of Covid-19 cases.” The city mayor committed to design, construct, maintain, and manage the hospital “up to its logical conclusion,” at no cost to the national government.

Domagoso also promised to restore the Burnham Green area where the hospital will be constructed, back to its original condition.

In the same meeting, the board also approved the construction of a temporary drive-thru vaccination site at the Independence Road (Parade Grounds) of the Quirino Grandstand, also under the management of the NPDC. The temporary drive-thru vaccination site will be located beside the drive-thru RTPCR testing facility managed by the City of Manila together with NPDC.

“Through the temporary mobile hospital that will be constructed in Rizal Park, and the drive thru vaccination site at the Quirino Grandstand, the DoT has repurposed its tourism sites to support the current efforts to protect the public’s health and safety during this crisis. These facilities will be open to all, not just the residents of Manila,” said the tourism chief who also sits as the chairman of the NPDC.