Gzb to get its first L3 Covid hosp, won’t need to move critical cases

Aditya Dev | TNN | May 4, 2020, 07:59 IST

Ghaziabad: In view of the increasing number of coronavirus patients in the district, the state government has directed the health department to make adequate arrangements of Covid hospitals in the region.
Officials said that instructions have been given to establish a 600-bed L3 category arrangement at Santosh Hospital from the state government. Once this happens, patients at critical stage will not be required to be referred to other cities like Delhi and Meerut.
Chief medical officer (CMO) Dr NK Gupta said instructions have been received in this regard and a report would be sent to the government. ”A preliminary inspection of the hospital has revealed that 400 beds can be set up, out of which only 300 will be for patients as a team of 53 medical staff, including doctors, is also required to stay in the premises in active quarantine. However, another round of inspection will be done to see if 600 beds can be set up or not,” Gupta added.
At present, the hospital has been categorized as an L2 category facility in the district. The CMO said that the medical facilities would be upgraded after the hospital is labelled under L3 category.
According to officials, for a hospital to be labelled as an L3 facility, there is a need to have one ventilator for every 10 beds, presence of specialists like pulmonologists in the team of 53 staff and other tertiary care facilities.
Meanwhile, the state government has directed the health department to prepare a list of private hospitals which are interested in treating Covid patients. Officials said once granted approval, Covid patients will be able to avail medical treatment there on their own expenses.
The district presently has three L1 level hospitals and two L1 attached hospitals. Apart from this, a 100-bed L2 level hospital has been created at District Combined Hospital.