Amid the sudden surge in Covid-19 infections in Chandigarh, the UT health department has sped up the process of completing pending projects approved by the central government under the Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package (ECRP-II package).
Under the ECRP scheme, the Centre had sanctioned ₹5.6 crore to the UT health department in August 2021, of which ₹3.61 crore was for ramping up health infrastructure with focus on paediatric units, keeping in view the possibility of the surge in infections among the paediatric population.
Also, ₹1.60 crore was allocated for procurement of essential Covid-related drugs and diagnostics and ₹45 lakh for IT hubs at hospitals to improve tele-consultation services. The Centre had asked UT to complete all the projects before March 2022.
The major health infrastructure projects at government hospitals will take at least one more month for completion. Under the ECRP scheme, the health department is coming up with a 32-bed dedicated paediatric ICU centre at Government Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, which will have 12 ventilator beds and 20 beds with medical oxygen facility. Similarly, an advanced lab to conduct RT-PCR tests is also being set up.
“At present, the engineering work of the building is underway and we have already procured most of the equipment. As soon as it is complete, the facility will be open to the public. Work to start RT-PCR testing at the hospital is also speeding up and both projects are expected to be complete in a month”, said Dr Suman Singh, director, health services.
{{/usCountry}}“At present, the engineering work of the building is underway and we have already procured most of the equipment. As soon as it is complete, the facility will be open to the public. Work to start RT-PCR testing at the hospital is also speeding up and both projects are expected to be complete in a month”, said Dr Suman Singh, director, health services.
{{/usCountry}}To increase the number if ICU beds in the city, proposals have been approved to set up 20 additional ICU beds each at civil hospital in Sector 22 and Manimajra. All of them will have a medical oxygen facility. “A memorandum of understanding has already been signed with a private firm to set up ICU beds. However, this project will be completed by March 2022,” said Dr Singh.
‘Ready to tackle the surge’
Dr Suman further said, “As recommended by the Centre, the UT health department had already procured and stocked up eight essential Covid-19 related drugs at a cost of ₹45.8 lakh, keeping in view the possible third wave. We have enough medicines, ICU beds and ventilators at the government hospitals to tackle the surge.” She added that the government and private hospitals have adequate medical oxygen to meet the requirement.
Another ECRP scheme project, IT-hub, has been completed through which all health and wellness centres are connected to civil hospitals for tele-consultation, which will further be linked with GMSH-16 and Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32. These two hospitals are then linked to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) for tele-consultation.
“The project has already started and through this facility, patients are connected with doctors, who are then connected with specialists for the consultation,” said Dr Suman.