The first Emergency Medical SmartPod™ was developed in response to the West African Ebola epidemic with support from USAID in 2014. In March 2020, Baylor Global Health of Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) received new interest in the SmartPod™ as a tool against the COVID-19 pandemic. Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia requested that Baylor Global Health build an innovative, state-of-the-art deployable ACCESS2Health medical facility with three (3) private medical examination rooms, an optimized patient workflow design, ADA-compliance, a needlepoint bi-polar ionization GPS indoor air-purifier, an isolation room with HEPA filter air-purification, aseptic cleanroom walls, antimicrobial flooring, and medical sink with FootWorks faucet controllers. This SmartPod™ provides acute care for severely symptomatic patients, is optimal for administering vaccines, and dually serves as a primary care same-day clinic for everyday primary care needs. Marek Brothers Systems Inc., a trusted staple of Houston’s construction community, has been entrusted with the noble task of constructing such an innovative means of combating COVID-19 and augmenting existing capacity.
Stan Marek was more than willing to accept the challenge of building these state-of-the-art SmartPods, offered to him by Dr Anandasabapathy, to help with health challenges facing our underserved communities in Harris County Precinct 2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MAREK’s team of estimator/ PM Gary Price, drywall superintendent Walter Merlos, & project supervisor Joe Garza, in collaboration with BGH’s team of Elena Petrova, Amanda Hollenbaugh & Tom Miller, and under the guidance of Dr. Anandasabapathy, received the first expandable pod at our Judiway facility in July of 2020. MAREK was able to build out the first SmarPod for deployment in less than two months. This SmartPod was deployed in North East Harris County, with the second unit being delivered soon after to Pasadena in early February 2021.