Despite the number of COVID-19 positive cases climbing in the district, the conversion of PVS Hospital into a centre exclusively for treatment of COVID-19 patients remains in a limbo.
Sub Collector Snehil Kumar Singh said the district administration aimed to get the hospital ready by later this week.
“There is a lot of repair on the gas system, sewage network, and air conditioning to be done there, which has caused the delay. Once we start taking patients in, the repair cannot be completed, since patients need to remain in isolation. We are targeting August 5, by then we might be able to take in mildly symptomatic patients for treatment at PVS,” he added.
The district administration had taken over the hospital in March, and a round of cleaning was done. Last month, the administration had announced that an outpatient facility would begin functioning at the hospital soon for COVID-19 positive patients, and another round of volunteer-led cleaning was initiated.
“Most of the staff are ready, some deployed through the National Health Mission [NHM]. There will be 20 nurses posted initially, besides ICU specialists, nephrologists, intensivists, and pulmonologists. We have identified doctors from different hospitals in both private and government sectors,” Mr. Singh said.
Going by preliminary estimates, around 200 category B and category C patients (differentiated based on the severity of their symptoms) can be treated at the hospital. The value the hospital has right now, considering the equipment it houses, is huge, he added.
A official associated with the process of converting the hospital, which had ceased functioning over a year ago, into an operational COVID-19 facility, said issues with recruiting staff persisted. Besides, some paperwork over the property was also left to be completed. “The staff requirement for a COVID-19 hospital is four times that of a regular hospital, and expense with regard to human resources is huge. The district administration has put out a call for doctors, and the response has been lukewarm. But some staff members at private hospitals have been willing to take up the work,” he said. “If the number of positive cases increases, we will need ICU facilities. All beds at PVS can be converted into ICU beds, if necessary,” he added.
