CUTTACK: The State Government has decided to set up a 500-bed hospital to exclusively treat COVID-19 patients at Dhaneswar Rath Institute of Engineering and Management Studies (DRIEMS) in Tangi here.
The dedicated hospital will have 500-bed isolation ward and 50-bed ICU equipped with ventilators.
The entire campus of the DRIEMS, including four boys hostels with 304 rooms, girls hostel with 130 rooms and academic blocks, will be used for the purpose, informed Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Central Range) Anil Kumar Samal.
As thousands of patients visit SCB Medical College and Hospital daily for health care needs, a high-level committee of the Government decided to come up with an exclusive COVID hospital on the outskirts of the Millennium City. Since the location of DRIEMS is away from the city and has adequate required facilities, it has been decided to convert the educational institution into a COVID hospital, said a senior official of Health department.
“The exclusive hospital at DRIEMS will be made as per the COVID-19 protocol. The doctors, nurses and paramedics will stay in separate accommodation and remain away from their families,” said Samal. The work for converting the institution into hospital has already been started by Works department after Collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani wrote a letter to DRIEMS chairman Pramod Chandra Rath in this regard on Friday. All necessary works will be completed on a war footing, he added.Samal along with the Collector, SCBMCH Superintendent Prof Annada Pattanaik and other line department officials visited DRIEMS on Friday to take stock of the infrastructure.