The Health department will utilise a portion of the Tata Trust COVID-19 hospital at Chattanchal here to treat people with mental illness.
The Health authorities will shift Pakalveedu, a day-care centre for those with mental illness, to the hospital. This comes in the wake of the fall in the number of COVID-19 patients getting admitted to the hospital.
Over 70 staffers, including doctors, were shifted to other hospitals in the district recently. At the same time, District Medical Officer (DMO) A.V. Ramdas clarified that the hospital would not be closed down but would be used for other services.
He said a possible re-emergence of COVID-19 could not be ruled out. “In such a scenario, treatment facilities will be required here. Only a portion of the hospital has been set apart for treatment of people suffering from mental illness. There is also a plan to utilise the hospital for palliative care,” he added.
The hospital is equipped with neatly built cabins and air-conditioned rooms with at least four cots each. There are 125 cabins that can accommodate over 500 patients. The facility was opened in September 2020.
P. Sunny Mathew, Nodal Officer, District Mental Health Programme, said four cabins at the hospital would be utilised for treating 17 patients. He added that Pakalveedu had been functioning from the Kanhangad District Hospital.
Patients are picked up from their homes and brought to Pakalveedu, where they are given food and medical treatment and dropped back. This facility is a huge relief to relatives of patients, said Mr. Mathew.
