HYDERABAD: Health Minister T Harish Rao, on Saturday, inaugurated a 100-bed ICU ward in Niloufer Hospital which was upgraded using CSR funds provided by Open Txt in collaboration with HYSEA and Nirman. These upgraded ICU beds will help bolster Telangana’s efforts to tackle a possible third Covid-19 wave, which some experts feel may affect children.
Speaking at the inauguration of the same, Harish said that the government was ready to spend over Rs 10,000 crore on the State’s health infrastructure. “Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has said that the aim is to strengthen the public health system and for that we are ready to spend up to Rs 10,000 crore. In Niloufer Hospital itself, we aim to add 800 new beds with an expenditure of Rs 33 crore,” he added.
Harish further added that as per CM KCR’s wish, Hyderabad will have four medical towers to meet all health needs of the population. At the inauguration, the Infosys group further signed an MoU with Nirman organisation intending to set up 25 more ICU beds in Niloufer at the cost of Rs 1.75 crore.“HYSEA as a group is happy to support the government. During the pandemic, nearly 40 companies gave around Rs 18 crore to help hospitals in Telangana. Even now, different corporations are helping us out,” said Bharani Aroll, president, HYSEA.
Vax status review
The Health Minister also reviewed the vaccination status in different districts via a video conference. He stressed on the need to finish work on medical colleges by December. Harish further asked the Panchayati Raj Department to be actively involved to improve the vaccine rollout.