KOCHI: In the wake of the spike in Covid-19 cases here, private hospitals are gearing up to provide more treatment facilities. Major hospitals in the district are in the process of setting up a separate wing for admission and treatment of Covid patients. Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) has set up a separate Covid hospital, exclusively for treating positive cases. According to the AIMS officials, the 32-bed hospital at Njarakkal will start functioning from next week.
The three-storey community healthcare centre of AIMS is equipped with 27 beds and five ICU ventilator beds. “We have informed the district administration and the government of this. A separate hospital for Covid patients will not affect the non-Covid patients visiting the hospital and therefore we will be able to keep the patients arriving with Covid symptoms. We have also informed the government that Covid patients will be given free treatment,” said Rajesh Pai, medical superintendent, AIMS.
The facility will be run by AIMS doctors and staff. “Any patient coming to AIMS with Covid symptoms and those referred by government hospitals will be treated at the Covid hospital.”The hospital authorities have decided to follow the government protocol for Covid hospitals and the staff will be put on four-hour shifts. Junior doctors, physicians and pulmonologists will be posted.
Meanwhile, in Aster Medcity, almost an entire block has been set apart for admission and treatment of Covid patients. “Following the rise in the number of cases, we have started a separate wing with 24 rooms and three ICU ventilator beds. We always get suspected cases and hence cannot lower the guard. Since ours is not a Medical College, we don’t have enough staff to run a separate Covid hospital,” said a doctor with the hospital.
According to a source in Lisie Hospital, “Since local transmission cases are on the rise in the district, those coming from containment zones and places nearby are checked. Temperatures are taken and swab samples of those with symptoms sent for testing. We have also kept a separate ward with almost 30 beds and 7 ICU beds to treat Covid patients.”