Local politicians and medical people take to
the streets in Naklua to visit elderly folks too sick to make it to see
their doctor.
Phasakorn Channgam
Pattaya’s “Doctors at Home” project kicked off for
another year, with Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome and city council members
this time joining in as health professional made house calls in Naklua’s
old market neighborhood.
The Feb. 16 outreach program is part of the city’s
plans to add 20,000 “beds” to Pattaya’s hospitals, but caring for
patients at home. City health department workers and volunteer doctors
visited patients in the Naklua Market, Lan Po Park and Banglamung Post
Office communities.
Among those visited were Boonma Fuangkhon, 80, who
has not been able to care for herself for a decade due to a stroke;
Kieng Sukasem, 80, who suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and
the aftermath of a stroke; and Vichat Thanormkaew, 79, who has the same
ailments and is only semi-independent.
In all, more than 300 residents were given checkups,
medicine or had their names registered with the Social Welfare
Department. Students from the Redemptorist Vocational School also
pitched in to repair electrical sockets and even pets got free
vaccinations.