SRNH to have more beds given Covid third wave warning

Prayagraj: To enhance the infrastructure at the Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital (SRNH), especially in light of the warning issued by health experts about the third wave of the pandemic, SRNH would soon be having 1066 beds for Covid patients. Of these, 702 would be ICU beds while the rest would be for those who need to be isolated due to Covid-19.
Among the ICU beds, 85 ICU beds would be kept for kids as experts have warned that the third wave would prove dangerous for kids. SRNH is the sole Level-3 Covid-19 treatment facility of the district.
In a recent meeting, the DM has also ordered the officials to also set up dedicated intensive care units (ICU)/Step Down Units (SDU) for coronavirus infected kids—one for children up to the age of 1 year (newborn intensive care unit) and a separate one for kids over the age of 1 year.
“A proposal in this regard is being prepared by us and the same would be sent within this week. This specifies the need for staff and equipment etc. We plan to have these facilities ready on priority,” said Dr SP Singh, principal of Moti Lal Nehru Medical College (MLNMC). SRN Hospital is an associate hospital of MLNMC.
Dr Singh said that at present the SRN Hospital has 314 ICU and 224 isolation beds for Covid-19 patients. “We plan to have a total of 702 beds of ICU/SDU for Covid patients in the hospital including 85 beds for kids besides an additional 364 isolation beds for the coronavirus infected patients in the hospital once the new plans get implemented. This would take out total bed capacity for Covid patients to 1066 including 388 new beds of ICU-SDU and 140 new isolation beds,” he explained.
Explaining the concept of the step-down unit or SDU, Dr Santosh Kumar Singh, a member of the MLNMC team, said SDUs, which are often also referred to as transitional care units or intermediate care units care for patients whose condition is more severe than a ward patient but who do not need monitoring in an ICU. The idea is that an SDU takes the pressure off the ICU thus improving patient outcomes while boosting efficiency, he added.
These preparations are being undertaken for the Covid-19’s third wave, which as per many leading medical experts and scientists, could be especially dangerous for children, said Dr Singh. In the last few days, SRN Hospital has received 100 new monitors for its Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 80 ventilators and 150 high-end multi-parameter monitors from the state government—all aimed at boosting its capability to meet the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, a decision to set up another 40-bed ward for Covid-19 infected children at Tej Bahadur Sapru (Beli) Hospital has also been taken. The DM in a meeting held with Beli Hospital officials on May 15 after due discussions instructed that a proposal in this regard be sent to the state government for approval as soon as possible.
The divisional commissioner Sanjay Goyal has also ordered officials to start Covid-19 testing at SN Children’s hospital also as kids are feared to be especially vulnerable during the third wave of the pandemic.