New Year opening for new hospital wing

PATONG: Patong Hospital will open its new outpatient and emergency wing on New Year’s Day – just after what everyone hopes will be a quiet holiday season, at least for hospitals. Construction of the 66-million-baht, four-story building began in 2001 and the grand opening will take place on December 21. The new building houses emergency and treatment rooms, an operating theater, a pharmacy and a dental clinic. The Hospital Director, Dr Taweesak Netwong, told the Gazette that he estimates around 15% of patients are foreign, with the remainder made up of equal numbers of local and out-of-province Thais. Because of Patong Hospital’s popularity with Burmese people, another innovation has been the recruitment of a Burmese doctor to join the physicians serving the hospital. Plans are also being made to expand the existing 60-bed inpatient department to 80 beds.