CMC converts newly modified block into COVID-19 facility

With three wards and 105 beds, the complex also houses 11 operation theatres

Rising to the occasion: Vellore Collector A. Shanmuga Sundaram with CMC director J. V. Peter at the Paul Brand Block to be used to treat COVID-19 patients at CMC.

A new in-patient facility, which was planned as an orthopaedic care complex, will now accommodate patients with COVID-19 at the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore.

The hospital has designated the newly-modified Paul Brand Block for admission and treatment of patients with COVID-19. There are three wards with a total of 105 beds in this block.

The complex houses 11 operation theatres, including two daycare theatres and one septic theatre, a fully equipped High Dependency Unit with 12 beds, which was upgraded to an Intensive Care Unit in view of the pandemic. There are 22 post-operative recovery beds, according to a press release.

The theatre complex with positive and negative pressure options would enable surgeons to perform operations on COVID-19 patients without compromising the safety of the healthcare workers. The building also has a diagnostic radiology suite with X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan and MRI facilities. A comprehensive care package could be offered to COVID-19 patients with various needs. On Monday, Vellore Collector A. Shanmuga Sundaram inaugurated the Paul Brand Block in the presence of CMC director J. V. Peter. The Collector said CMC’s projections about the trajectory of the pandemic from time to time was very helpful to the district administration for framing appropriate policies and for putting in place infrastructural facilities ahead of time.

“When we were having only 30-plus cases in June 2020, CMC predicted 7,600 cases in the next one month. This allowed us to put in place almost 4,000-plus beds,” he added. Various COVID-19 care centres were opened and oxygen supply was increased based on the projections, the Collector said, according to the release.

CMC’s director Dr. Peter said that over 1,000 COVID-19 positive patients were currently under the hospital’s care. About half of them were admitted. More than 700 patients were cared for through the CMC COVID Home Isolation and Management programme, a home monitoring programme run by the nursing staff under medical supervision. The provision of home monitoring, has been one of the unique aspects of COVID-19 care in the second wave, he said.

Mark Ranjan Jesudason, associate medical superintendent and project lead (head of Colo-rectal surgery) gave an overview of the project. Vikram Mathews, associate director, Administration (professor of haematology), CMC also spoke.