Panama's Modular Hospital to Be Handed Over to Police

The modular hospital installed during the pandemic for COVID-19 patients will be divided into two parts to serve the National Police. The new facilities will strengthen health services, allowing officers to receive care conveniently and return to duty promptly. The police director is confident the project will be completed by 2026. The first step is to secure personnel to relocate the facility, located in the Albrook sector behind the University of Panama's Harmodio Arias Campus. Jaime Fernández, head of the security force, announced the facility will be moved to the eastern and western areas. "Basically, we are looking for primary care and rehabilitation," the police chief detailed. He noted that clinics already exist at the headquarters, in Ancón, the SENAN base in Loma Cová, and the SENAfront base. "This way, we give our officers much easier access to the facilities we will provide them," he stated. Fernández added they are awaiting funds to make the relocation effective. "Let's remember that this hospital has nothing inside or very few things, and it is up to us as the National Police not only to remove it from its facilities but to adapt it," the official said. Finally, the facility was transferred to the National Police. In the previous government, when the hospital was set up, several uses were discussed, but none materialized after the pandemic. Subsequently, the needs of the two new facilities to be created from the old hospital will be determined.