500 bed-hospital for Covidto come up in Jammu

AMRITSAR: Covid crisis is a godsend for ‘lesser haves’ of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory (JKUT) after a local medicos decided to construct a hospital focusing to meet the challenges of the pandemic.
He also aims to provide affordable medical services to the people of JKUT who are forced to travels from far-flung precipitous hilly destinations to the various cities of Punjab especially Amritsar and Pathankot for medical treatment.
“During Covid times there is an increased influx of patients from JKUT and Himachal Pradesh (HP) who travel hundreds of kilometers in ambulances or in private vehicles from remote hilly areas for getting quality medical treatment in various cities of Punjab even as they are not advised to travel” said Dr. Avtar Singh.
Singh is the managing director of Amandeep Medicity, Amritsar, and Amandeep Hospital, Pathankot, presently running around fifty bed dedicated Covid 19 facilities in both the cities.
He said the present Covid-19 pandemic have necessitated the need to have specialized hospitals.
He said the number of patients arriving for medical treatment for Covid from J&K and HP was more in Pathankot than Amritsar.
Muhammad Mushtaq, brother of a Covid 19 patient from Poonch district, who is in Amritsar for his treatment said he had paid over Rs 22,000 as ambulance charges to bring his brother to Amritsar since he wasn't getting Covid bed near his place .
“A large number of people from various places comes to Amritsar, Pathankot, Ludhiana for medical treatments” he said.
Stating that besides making a livelihood they also had responsibilities towards fellow mankind, Singh said they had signed a MoU with a private party to construct a 500 bed hospital in Jammu which would be commissioned in the middle of 2022.