A crowd-funded 30-bed oxygen-supported COVID-19 ward became a reality at Dharmavaram on Saturday with Dharmavaram Revenue Divisional Officer G.R. Madhusudhan ensuring the project was accomplished in the shortest possible time at the Community Health Centre in the town.
Mr. Madhusudhan first donated one month’s salary and then appealed to the general public to liberally donate for their own cause. As of Saturday morning, 36 donors generously responded pooling in ₹20.5 lakh and the first ward with 30 beds got ready at a cost of ₹11 lakh. The team is now immersed in expanding the facility to 50 beds in the next few days as the positivity rate is on the rise in the rural pockets.
“The most precious donations included ₹10 by an 85-year-old woman and ₹50,000 by a group of schoolchildren who pooled in their pocket money to help the cause,” Mr. Madhusudhan said. Other donors included some NGOs, municipal Staff, owners of silk sari stores and the general public.
The hospital now has 12 oxygen cylinders connected to a network of pipelines to ensure supply to each bed. The facility also has some advanced laboratory facilities tying up with local diagnostics Spandana for instant digital X-ray and other blood tests done locally on the hospital premises. Cell counters and semi-auto analysers have also been set up and food is being supplied as prescribed by the State government. Dharmavaram MLA Kethireddy Venkatarami Reddy inaugurated the facility.
