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Padang’s largest hospital, Dr. M Djamil, which served as the crisis center in the aftermath of the deadly West Sumatra earthquake on Sept. 30, is eager to start rebuilding its facilities and has appealed for funds from the central government.

Dr. Suchyar Iskandar, the hospital’s director, said on Thursday that the hospital was hoping to receive about Rp 800 million ($86,000) from the Ministry of Health to help rebuild its outpatient clinics to cope with both regular patients and quake survivors requiring ongoing care.

“We have started [clearing the site] and hopefully within two weeks the temporary building will be ready to welcome patients,” he said.

Several of the hospital’s buildings were destroyed by the powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake, including an outpatient clinic.

Suchyar said the hospital needed the clinic up and running as soon as possible, because many people could begin to start suffering from post-disaster ailments.

Two weeks after the earthquake, there was a risk of diseases spreading, including upper respiratory tract infections from dust and diarrhea due to poor sanitation, including a lack of access to clean water, he said.

So to give the best service, the hospital needs to rebuild the clinic soon, Suchyar said.

“Eight days after the earthquake, we started to use the rooms inside the hospital again and we are no longer using makeshift tents outside the hospital to receive patients and perform surgery,” he said.

Soetrisno, deputy for emergency response at the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), said that while the hospital started to rebuild some of its units, the agency had yet to decide about the rehabilitation and reconstruction of other buildings in the capital city and province.

“We haven't discussed the details yet, including the funding and planning. However, I am sure that we will prioritize public governmental buildings,” he said.

Meanwhile, BNPB head Syamsul Maarif said after a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Thursday that the post-disaster emergency response in West Sumatra was still ongoing.

“The president will ask the coordinating minister for people’s welfare, the coordinating minister for the economy and the BNPB to give a report on the emergency response next week,” Syamsul said, adding that the government wanted to make sure everything was ready when it began the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase.