The Fiocruz Hospital Center, that will receive Covid-19 patients, is expected to start operating in May. The structure was built at the Campus Manguinhos of the Foundation, near the side of the thoroughfare Avenida Brasil, in Rio de Janeiro. Once it becomes fully operational, which will happen within 30 days after the inauguration, the Center will hold 200 beds, 120 of them being for intensive treatment, and 80 being for semi-intensive treatment. The good news is the hospital will not be dismantled once the pandemic is over; it will instead become a new option in health care for the population of Rio de Janeiro.

During the pandemic, the availability of beds will be coordinated by the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases (INI/Fiocruz), a reference unit regarding clinical studies and specialized care of infectious diseases, which has already become a benchmark in the treatment of severe cases of Covid-19.

Fiotec has had a leadership role in the purchase of equipment and supplies for the construction of the Hospital Center, and is now focusing on the acquisition of personal protection equipment (PPE) for the professionals who will be involved in patient care. “We are importing face shields, triple surgical masks and N95 masks, as well as aprons and mechanical ventilators from China,” said Elisângela Bevitori, supervisor of the International Purchases team. “It’s been a real challenge due to many problems with suppliers, low quality products, and of course, logistics during the pandemic, a true war-time operation,” she added.

At the national level, the difficulties to find products in stock at fair prices are the same. Washington Gutemgerg reported that “searches are being conducted in physical stores, negotiations are being held through messaging apps, social media, by telephone, among many other means. We are using all the possible means to find the requested items.”

According to Fiotec’s Purchase analyst, as the opening date approaches, purchases have turned towards daily-use supplies, such as drugs, PPE, and hospital supplies, but there are still some urgent orders being placed, for example.