300 beds with oxygen supply likely to be added by Monday

Administration, Pragathi Bharathi Trust to convert a building into hospital

May 08, 2021 11:14 pm | Updated 11:14 pm IST - VISAKHAPATNAM

Prompt action:  A COVID patient being rushed into the ward at King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

Prompt action: A COVID patient being rushed into the ward at King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

The first step towards enhancing the bed strength in the city has been initiated and 300 beds with oxygen supply are likely to be added on Monday.

MP V. Vijaya Sai Reddy’s Pragathi Bharathi Trust and the district administration have taken over a private college building on the National Highway near Sheela Nagar and the first and the second floors in the building will be converted into a full-fledged 300-bed COVID hospital.

“Last year, during the first wave, the same building served as a quarantine centre and this year, due to the demand, we have converted into a hospital under the private-public partnership with the trust,” said District COVID Special Officer and Principal of Andhra Medical College P.V. Sudhakar.

Under the partnership, the trust will provide the infrastructure and the district administration will provide the medical staff, drugs and medication.

“We are under the process of laying the oxygen pipelines and identifying the doctors and nurses to serve at the hospital. If everything goes as per the plan, then by Monday it should be operational,” said Dr. Sudhakar. “About 25 beds in RCD Hospital, 90 in family ward in psychiatry hospital and 50 in Regional Eye Hospital, all oxygenated, will be ready by early next week. We have already opened up 96 beds in ENT hospital, and with this the total oxygenated bed count will go up from 4,000 to about 4,700 by early next week,” he said. It is also learnt that former District Collector Pravin Kumar, who is now acting as the Special COVID Officer for the district, held a meeting with the Health Department officials on Friday and have proposed enhancement of beds at the KGH.

According to the proposal, two wards in KGH, Rajendra Prasad and Bhavanagar, with a combined bed strength of around 400, may be converted shorty into COVID wards.

“The idea has been mooted and it is up to the KGH to give the confirmation. It is true that there are regular patients in the wards, but keeping the present emergency-like situation in mind, we hope that things will work out. If that be the case, then both the wards can be converted into COVID wards by middle of the next week,” said a senior officer from the Health Department.

Triage centre

The district administration and the KGH have already agreed to convert the parking lot, which is called the ‘German hangar’ into a triage centre with the help of the TTD. It will be operational by early next week and about 100 beds, some with oxygen support, will be made available to make patients comfortable. Immediately on arrival at the KGH, the patients will be examined by the doctors at the triage centre and assessed whether they require normal beds or beds with oxygen support or ICU beds.

Based on the requirement and availability, they will be shifted. But in the meantime, they will be provided emergency medication and oxygen support if required at the centre, said Dr. Sudhakar. Meanwhile, industry leaders such as Shiv Kumar from Maple Software, Sridhar Panuganti of Xinthe Technologies, Murali Krishna Gannamani of Fluentgrid, Neeraj Sarda of Sarda Metals & FerroAalloys, RVS Raju of RHI Clasil, Mallika Grandhi and Satish Mangalgiri of Vaibhav Jewellers, Chaman Baid of ACN Infotech, Dharmender Varada of Novus Construction group, Dr. Murali Voona of Gandhi Cancer Institute, and Raju Indukuri of Sunray Resorts have joined hands to support Gayatri Vidya Parishad Institute of Health Care & Medical Technology, by way of funding and extending support to help it to quickly ramp up bed capacity and oxygen availability for additional 50-60 beds.

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