Hospitality to health care: Hotels prepare for life as Covid-19 facilities

The Delhi government had on May 29 ordered five hotels to be used as Covid facilities to meet the requirement for beds in view of the spike in coronavirus cases.

Preparations to provide beds for patients of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in city hotels, which have been attached to hospitals in their neighbourhood, began in full swing from Tuesday, a day after the Delhi High Court allowed the Delhi government to take over two hotels for running extended Covid care centre for asymptomatic patients or those with mild symptoms.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia during a visit to Suryaa Hotel which is temporarily turned into a Covid-19 quarantine facility, in New Friends Colony, New Delhi. (HT Photo)

Hotel Crowne Plaza, Okhla and Hotel Suryaa, New Friends Colony, had moved the court against the move but after a two-member court appointed committee submitted that there are spaces in the two hotels which can be appropriately equipped and converted into dedicated Covid health centres, the High Court gave the go ahead to the government.

The Delhi government had on May 29 ordered five hotels to be used as Covid facilities to meet the requirement for beds in view of the spike in coronavirus cases. The hotels are Crowne Plaza (attached with Batra Hospital; Hotel Suryaa (Apollo ); Hotel Siddharth (B L Kapur Memorial Hospital); Hotel Jivitesh (Sir Gangaram Hospital); Sheraton Saket (Max Super Speciality Hospital).

Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, previously attached to Jivitesh hotel, was attached to a second hotel - Taj Mansingh - on Tuesday. The hospital said it has started surveying the hotels assigned to it. “A lot of changes will have to be made because hotels as such are not designed to act as a backup for hospitals. But, these are extraordinary times. We are working closely with the hotel to decide on the separate entrance and exits, sanitising and screening areas at the entry and readily available dedicated ambulances to shift the Covid patient immediately to the hospital if the situation deteriorates,” said Dr Ajay Swaroop, honorary secretary, board of management, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

These hotel-hospitals will be equipped with oxygen cylinders and concentrators, medicines, bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP), intravenous (IV) fluids and stands, pulse oximeters and so on.

Hospital managements will also have to ensure a conducive air-conditioning at these hotels because they have to ensure the air flow does not spread infections.

A senior official of Apollo hospital, which has been attached to Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels in Mayur Vihar among others, said one of the important tasks at hand is to study the airflow at these hotels. “Typically for Covid positive patients, we need either a negative pressure or a uni-directional airflow so that the common areas and corridors do not get infected. If it is a Covid care centre then it is much easier because you just have to create a good exhaust system. Even rooms which have natural airflow will create a negative pressure. For something more severe, one would need a higher grade of air-conditioning to create a negative airflow, which will be a bit difficult to achieve,” said the official.

A negative pressure room includes a ventilation system that decreases the viral load of the aerosolised space by throwing out the infected air out of the building using a negative pressure.

On June 14, HT had reported on the government requisitioning as many as 40 hotels having a total capacity of 4,628 beds to be attached with private hospitals.

All the attached hospitals that HT spoke to said the HC order on Monday has caused confusion whether the hotels have to be turned into Covid Care Centres (CCCs), primarily meant for asymptomatic (with no facility of home quarantine) patients and mild cases, or makeshift hospitals. They said the government has to clarify whether the HC order of setting up CCCs in the two hotels will be applicable to all other hotels as well. “If it is CCC, the job is much easier and quicker. But if they have to turn into makeshift hospitals, as the government orders also state, then more equipment and arrangements will be required. But, it is totally doable,” the hospitals said.

Despite government orders on requisitioning various hotels, only Sheraton in Saket is currently operational as an extended Covid facility. “It is because all other hotels and the hospitals were waiting for the verdict of the high court in the matter,” said a government official.

Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket Complex, which has been running the facility in Sheraton said they identified space and created a medical store within the hotel.“This medical store is adequately equipped with medicines, consumables and equipment at all times. This is a must-do for all the hospitals that have been attached to hotels. Spaces also have to be earmarked for the clinical staff such as doctor and nurse duty rooms. Since medical staff also need to be quarantined at defined intervals, manpower planning is the key,” said Dr Gurpreet Singh, vice president and unit head, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket Complex.

The hotels said they would provide their staff for all hotel-related services including rooms, housekeeping, disinfection and food for the patients. “The orders state that the hotel staff will be trained by the concerned hospitals. Right from our chefs to the housekeeping staff, workers will have to be taught how to wear protective gear and how to dispose them. We are also arranging for a lot of disposable plates, water bottles and cutlery. The charges are to be collected by the hospital and the hospital will pay the hotel,” said an official of hotel Crowne Plaza in Mayur Vihar, which has been attached to Indraprastha Apollo hospital in Sarita Vihar.

ITC Hotels, which runs the Sheraton hotel in Saket, said it is following a stringent hygiene protocol. “Stringent hygiene protocol is being observed at the hotel. All necessary safety precautions are being taken,” a spokesperson of ITC hotels said.

The list of hotels also includes two top hotels in South Delhi, Vasant Continental and Hyatt Regency; Maidens Hotel of the Oberoi Group in Civil Lines (supervised by Sant Parmanand Hospital); Hyatt Regency in Bhikaji Cama Place (Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj); Park Inn by Radisson in Lajpat Nagar (Moolchand hospital) and Hotel Ramada in Pitampura (Jaipur Golden Hospital).

Patients opting for the beds in hotels will have to pay a minimum of Rs 63,000 a week if it’s a three- or four-star hotel. For a five-star hotel, the weekly charge may go up to at least Rs 70,000. In addition, patients needing oxygen support will have to pay Rs 2,000 a day. The charges will vary with medical investigations, which private hospitals overseeing these facilities will bill at their own rates and the duration of treatment.