In line with the current thinking that each tertiary hospital in the country should have one critical care unit for coronavirus, Kasturba Hospital, Sevagram, a 932-bed teaching hospital has created a well-equipped 100-bed facility dedicated to the inpatient care of patients who test positive for coronavirus.
This hospital in Sevagram shall be the only hospital in Wardha district to care for corona victims. It shall comprise a 75- bed isolation ward where people who test positive for coronavirus (those with or without symptoms) shall be admitted. A 15-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) equipped with ventilators, monitors, infusion pumps and monitoring systems shall house patients who require mechanical ventilation or at risk of, or develop, multi-organ failure. A 10-bed High Dependency Unit (HDU) shall care for corona patients who become breathless and develop low levels of oxygen in their body.
“The hospital shall follow all guidelines related to the safety of patients and healthcare workers. The ICU physicians and nurses wear personal protection devices and adhere to protocols to reduce the risk of viral transmission”, informed Dr SP Kalantri, Medical Superintendent of the hospital.
The hospital has been running a special OPD to screen all individuals suspected to have corona infection. Until now, the hospital has seen 1379 patients. Of the 11 patients who underwent a corona viral test, nobody tested positive.
Of note, Kasturba Hospital shall continue to run its outpatient (OPD) and ward (IPD) services as before. Although routine operations have been canceled, all patients requiring emergency surgeries shall be admitted, operated and cared for. Thus, pregnant women, sick babies, patients with heart attacks, strokes, infections, cancers and fractures shall receive timely care in the hospital.
"We will be asking doctors to step outside their departmental boundaries to help the hospital in this mission", said Dr BS Garg, Secretary, Kasturba Hospital Society.
Dr NM Gangane, Dean, MGIMS said that the hospital would be willing to take unprecedented steps to support the national effort.
The hospital expects that 15% of patients admitted with Covid-19 shall have pneumonia and difficulty breathing, which would require treatment with oxygen or, in severe cases, a ventilator. "What matters is not just space, we shall make sure that the equipment and the trained staff are there as well”, said Dr SP Kalantri.