China’s second makeshift hospital to battle against the novel coronavirus in epicenter Wuhan on
Feb. 6 completed acceptance testing by the city’s urban construction department and health
commission after 10 days of construction.
The first batch of medical teams have entered the hospital, received the first batch of patients of
the novel coronavirus pneumonia on Feb. 8.
The decision to build the hospital, located on the bank of Huangjia Lake in the Jiangxia district,
was made by Wuhan immediately after the first makeshift hospital Huoshenshan broke ground on
Jan. 25, the first day of the Chinese New Year. The Leishenshan Hospital was requested to be built
in half a month.
In face of the rapid spreading of the novel coronavirus, the hospital expanded its total designed
construction area three times from 50,000 square meters to 75,000 square meters and finally
80,000 square meters. It’s designed capacity was also expanded from 1,300 beds to nearly 1,600
beds. The size of Leishenshan is twice as that of Huoshenshan.
The Leishenshan Hospital uses modular design based on layout of field hospital, and includes
three major areas: one for treatment, one for medical workers’ logistical support, and one for
auxiliary treatment.
CNBC covered the whole construction process of the Leishenshan Hospital in articles, pictures
and videos, saying the construction of the new facilities echoes the rapid completion of Beijing’s
Xiaotangshan hospital in 2003 built to treat patients affected with Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS).
During an interview of Philippine newspaper Watchmen Daily Journal, an 84-year-old historian
said she admired the Chinese government for their “efficiency and effectiveness in responding to
the need of its people,” noting that such speed was just like magic.
CNN noted that the "cohorting," or zoning of the patients in the Leishenshan Hospital is very
important, citing Emergency medicine physician Dr. Solomon Kuah who helped the International
Rescue Committee coordinate the construction of emergency hospitals during a 2014 Ebola
outbreak in West Africa. Such design can effectively make up for the deficiency of the hospital,
and it’s necessary to divide patients of differing levels of contagiousness.
Both the lockdown of Wuhan and the Chinese New Year made it extremely difficult to seek
materials and labors for the construction of the hospital. However, the employees of the Wuhan
branches of the China State Construction Engineering, China State Railway Investment
Construction Group, China Construction Science and Industry Corporation, China Construction
Industrial & Energy Engineering Group, and China Construction Third Engineering Bureau
showed great enthusiasm for contributing their power, applying to go to the “frontline”.
The number of constructers at the site kept growing, from hundreds to thousands. As of Feb. 4,
there were over 1,000 managers and nearly 8,000 workers working at site day and night, and more
than 1,400 large machineries and transportation vehicles were running busily. A total of 3,000
container houses, as well as 3,300 sets of mechanical and electrical installation tools have been
shipped to the construction sites.
“What makes the construction speed is the innovation of China’s construction technology,” said
Wu Hongtao, secretary of the Party committee of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau
First Engineering Co., Ltd., who directed the construction at site.
He introduced that both Leishenshan and Huoshenshan Hospitals adopted cutting-edge
construction technologies, and used as many assembly parts as possible to reduce field workload
and save time. Besides, the construction and integral hoisting were carried out in an alternative
manner, which maximized the efficiency.
As a result, the Leishenshan Hospital was finally completed in just 10 days, and will make full
contribution to the battle against the novel coronavirus.
