Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Manila Water Foundation deployed much needed drinking water and water dispensers to six (6) Quezon City public hospitals for medical frontliners on March 25.
A total of 280 units of 5-gallon bottled water with water dispensers were deployed to Quirino Medical Memorial Center (QMMC), Quezon City General Hospital (QCGH), Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC), Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), Philippine Heart Center (PHC), and East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC) to help their doctors, nurses and staff stay hydrated during this time of national health emergency.
Eleazar Tio, Training Specialist at QMMC, expressed his gratitude for the water dispensers and water bottle units. “We need to take water every now and then. Having an available water dispenser [would be beneficial to us]. Thank you for your continued support,” he said. He also shared that their frontline health care workers currently need personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and disposable gowns, as well as access to transportation, food and beverages.
Manila Water Foundation Executive Director Reginald Andal stressed that helping our frontliners is an expression of gratitude for their service. “The situation of COVID-19 as it unfolds day by day is challenging at all levels,” he said. “We are comforted that our healthcare frontliners are doing their best to take care of all of us, but they are putting their own lives at risk in the process. The least we can do is to provide their vital needs such as water. This is our expression of gratitude for their selfless service, dedication and courage for public health,” he further shared.
The frontline health care workforce has been the hardest-hit during the COVID-19 pandemic with the shortage of manpower, lack of access to PPE, and the rising number of COVID-19 patients.
Last March 20, Manila Water Foundation initially deployed 20 units of bottled water to Philippine Heart Center (PHC), bringing the total to 1,500 gallons of drinking water for medical frontliners.
The relief efforts are under Manila Water Foundation’s Agapay Tubig program, a disaster response program that aims to provide water relief to disaster-stricken areas.