Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation has also installed 25 ventilators and procured personal protective equipment (PPE) suits for the medical staff of the two civic hospitals that are treating COVID-19 patients in the twin city. (File)
Gearing up to tackle coronavirus (COVID-19), the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has decided to reserve its 750-bed Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital to treat only COVID-19 cases. It has also installed 25 ventilators and procured personal protective equipment (PPE) suits for the medical staff of the two civic hospitals that are treating COVID-19 patients in the twin city.
“We have signed an MoU with Dr. D Y Patil Medical College Hospital for shifting all our non-COVID-19 patients to its hospital,” Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar told The Indian Express.
“We got in touch with Chancellor of Dr. D Y Patil Hospital, P D Patil, who readily agreed to take our patients to help us fight this challenge,” said YCMH hospital chief and medical college dean Dr. Rajendra Wable.
Hardikar said YCMH patients will have to pay the same amount at Dr. D Y Patil Hospital. “That is why we have signed an MoU with them. The rates will be similar to the ones charged by YCM Hospital,” he said.
The PCMC chief said the entire hospital will be kept ready to accommodate coronavirus patients. “We will reserve the entire 750-bed hospital for COVID-19 patients. Initially, the patients were admitted to the ground floor isolation unit, Now they are admitted to the fifth and sixth-floor isolation units. The third and fourth floors are also being readied…,” he said.
YCMH is the biggest hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad, with 750-bed capacity and nearly 40 surgeries a day. Even patients from neighbour talukas such as Lonavala and Manchar-Junnar are often admitted here.
On the additional ventilators procured by PCMC, Hardikar said, “We managed to procure them from our sources. More will be installed as per requirement”. Of the 25 ventilators, 15 are being installed in YCM hospital while 10 are being installed at Bhosari Hospital.
“We needed 5,000 PPE suits as the staff is required to change the suit every few hours. We have succeeded in procuring them from some private players,” he said.
The PCMC has also set up mobile dispensaries as part of its “doctor at your doorstep” plan. It has been set up in association with the Bharatiya Jain Sanghatna and Force Motors. The mobile dispensaries will ply to various parts of the city and conduct tests on people who are suffering from fever and cold.
Officials said the tests will be carried out in the mobile vans itself, rather than at the patients’ residence.