Odisha To Set Up Two COVID-19 Hospitals With 1000 Beds Soon

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government on Thursday signed two tripartite agreements with SUM and KIIMS Medical Colleges for setting up 1000-bed state level hospitals in Bhubaneswar for treatment of COVID-19 patients.

These hospitals will serve as state facility for treatment of coronavirus cases. The Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) will provide the CSR funding for the purpose. Both the new facilities will become functional in a fortnight, a CMO press release said.

The first MoU was signed by Health Secretary Nikunja Bihari Dhal and OMC MD Vineel Krishna and KILMS Management for a 450-bed hospital. The second MoU was signed by Dhal, S S Panda of MCL and SUM Hospital management for a 500 bedded hospital plus ICU facilities at Lok Seva Bhawan here.

Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) University Vice-Chancellor of Ashok Kumar Mahapatra said that a 500-bedded COVID-19 ward along with 20 ICUs will be readied in four days to house the suspected coronavirus cases.

KIMS will set up a 450-bedded ward for this purpose, said KIIT and KISS founder Achyuta Samanta.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated the partners and thanked OMC and MCL for coming forward and working in synergy in the interest of the people of the Odisha.

“COVID-19 has become a global pandemic in a short span of time affecting most of the states and Union Territories including Odisha. There was an urgent need to take up proactive steps to strengthen the healthcare system in this context. The global experience shows that such patients need to be put under observation and treatment in a separate hospital instead of a general hospital, thus minimising the chance of transmission to others,” he said.

The Chief Minister has also directed for setting up similar facilities for COVID-19 cases in other areas of Odisha, the release added.