More than 100 ICU and oxygen-support beds will be added in a phased manner at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchi due to surge in number of patients, senior officials said.
The fifth and sixth floors of the super speciality block in the hospital are being rewired and oxygen supply pipelines laid to accommodate around 100 beds. Adequate plug points have also been arranged for ventilator support, MGMGH Dean K. Vanitha told The Hindu .
Also, 160 new ICU beds, 90 oxygen-support beds and 100 normal beds have been set up, further increasing the number of beds allocated for COVID-19 treatment to 1,264.
The hospital, however, will require an additional oxygen tank of at least 10 KL capacity for all the 100 beds to become operational, senior officials at the hospital said. “We are yet to get additional supply, but we are using oxygen concentrators for patients who do not require too much supply and accomodating those who need it more on oxygen beds with high-flow nasal oxygen.”
Officials feel that most patients who visit the hospital come in a state of panic. “Last week, we had patients crying, begging to be saved when, in fact, they are in good health and could be discharged soon. Fear of the illness is worse than the illness itself. We see that it has settled a little bit now,” an official said.
Meanwhile, plans drawn up by the medical department to set up an in-house oxygen generating plant is yet to take off. The plant will assist in steady supply of oxygen and further increase in beds, the official added.
