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Army to set up 100-bed Covid facility in Mohali
The decision was taken during a virtual meeting between Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Lieutenant General RP Singh of the Western Command
Amid a crippling health infrastructure, the Army will set up a 100-bed facility for Covid-19 patients in Mohali. It will be manned by the Western Command personnel and jointly run by the civil administration and the Army. The technical and specialist manpower will be made available from the Command Hospital, Chandimandir.
The decision was taken during a virtual meeting between Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Lieutenant General RP Singh of the Western Command.
The CM said though at present the Covid bed capacity available with the state was sufficient, the situation might change rapidly and thus there may be a requirement for additional beds. Lieutenant General RP Singh assured the CM of necessary assistance.
OPD, emergency shifted from civil hospital
Meanwhile, the district health authorities have shifted the out patient department and emergency services from the civil hospital, Phase 6, to the Employees State Insurance (ESI) Hospital in the Industrial Area, Phase 7, with immediate effect. The move will help make space for 40 more Level-2 (oxygen support) beds at the civil hospital, taking the total to 100.
At present, all 220 Level-3 (ICU beds with ventilator support) are occupied at private and government facilities in the district, while oxygen beds are also nearing saturation.
“A special ward will be set up at the civil hospital to accommodate Covid patients as private hospitals have already run out of the beds. The number of beds will be made available according to the availability of oxygen, doctors and paramedics,” said civil surgeon Dr Adarshpal Kaur.
Deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan said the administration also has around 200 beds at their disposal for setting up an L2 facility at Chandigarh University, Gharuan, subjecte to the availability of doctors and paramedics. Meanwhile, the administration has asked private hospitals to expand their L3 bed capacity, he said. None of the nine government hospitals in the district has ICU beds.
District admn constitutes oxygen audit teams
In the wake of unprecedented demand for oxygen, the district administration on Monday also constituted 15 oxygen audit teams. Dayalan said an oxygen monitoring committee is already operational and the new teams will give regular updates to it .
Comprising three members each, including medical and police officials, the teams will work 24x7 to ensure daily audit of all Covid hospitals in the district. They will liaison with hospitals and ensure that they maintain two-hourly oxygen saturation chart of every patient so that requirement per patient is assessed and the monitoring committee can keep a tab on medical oxygen consumption of each hospital.
The teams will also ensure timely shifting of recovered patients from L3 to L2 or L1 facilities, so that more L3 beds are available for critical patients.
‘No crisis-like situation in Panchkula’
A day after Panchkula district reported 100% Covid bed occupancy, deputy commissioner Mukul Kumar designated Mamta Sharma, estate officer, Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran, Panchkula, as the nodal officer for bed and oxygen supply management in the district. Executive engineer, HSVP, NK Payal will assist her.
“So far, there is no crisis-like situation, as beds are available and no problem has been reported. However, we are making a plan to deal with the situation, in case the number of cases rise,” said Sharma.
According to data shared by the authorities on Monday, all 62 ventilator beds were occupied in the district, while 12% oxygen and 37% non-oxygen beds were still available.
