SHIVAMOGGA: The McGann District Hospital here will be exclusively dedicated to treat COVID- 19 patients on the lines of Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru. Patients who have been admitted to the hospital are being shifted to private hospitals, while new patients too will be diverted, the authorities said. The 950-bed hospital will turn into a COVID-specialty facility finish in a week.
District Surgeon Dr Raghunandan said that the hospital is already geared up to treat 250 COVID-9 patients, while it will be scaled up to accommodate 500 COVID-19 patients in a week. The hospital will have a capacity to treat 1,000 patients soon. “The main block will be used for treating COVID-19 patients. Labour and paediatric blocks will not be shifted, and patients will continue to be treated, while other patients are being moved to private hospitals. We are referring the patients to these hospitals under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, under which the treatment is free,” he said. He said a private dialysis centre near JNNCE, where 10 machines are available, is being managed by Mc- Gann staff.
“The procedure will be done there free of cost,” he said. The equipment needed to prepare the hospital to treat 1,000 COVID-19 patients will be available in a week. “We have ventilators and private hospitals too have been requested to give us the machines if required,” he said.