With the crisis for Covid beds reaching desperate proportions, hospitals in and around Salt Lake have responded to the health department directive to start satellite facilities.
Charnock Hospital has gone one step ahead and is starting a 100-bed hospital at the government-run safe house at Haj House in New Town from May 1. “It is a public-private partnership. The government has given us the space. We are setting up the hospital. All the beds will be government acquisitioned. So admission will be via the health department’s mechanism,” said Prashant Sharma, managing director of Charnock Hospital. “Once the government refers a patient, we will admit him,” he added. The state government’s integrated Covid helpline is 1800-313444-222.
Charnock is also running a satellite facility at Hotel Eastern Plaza on VIP Road. “We have 40 rooms there. We had started a satellite facility last year there as well but demand was less. People usually opt for our home isolation package unless things get serious and then they want to be hospitalised,” Sharma said, adding that they were having to refuse hundreds of patients seeking hospital admission on a daily basis. “The hotel is mostly for isolation of those who do not have space at home.” The charges at the hotel are Rs 9,500 per day while Charnock’s home isolation monitoring package comes at Rs 15,000 for seven days.
Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals has taken 75 beds at Visitel next door which is operating since April 22. “Waiting list for ICU beds started since April 15 while for the last two days there are 20 patients in wait for even general Covid beds,” said a hospital source on Tuesday. The hospital has 100 Covid beds, to which it is adding 300 more in a staggered manner. At the satellite facility, the rates are Rs 5,000, Rs 7,000 and Rs 9,000. “Patients will be referred to Visitel if they are found to be asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic at the fever triage at the hospital,” the source explained.
Snacks being taken to Covid patients in isolation at Hotel The Sojourn by a PPE-clad staff member Sourced by the correspondent
AMRI Salt Lake started its first satellite facility at Hotel The Sojourn next door with 14 rooms on April 14. Demand was so high that on April 22 they booked more rooms at Monotel in Sector V. “Not a single bed is free of the 40 we are offering,” said a hospital source on Wednesday afternoon, adding that there were plans to acquire more rooms in hotels.
The procedure for admission is a visit to the hospital emergency where doctors are assessing if the patient is mild or moderately infected and is without co-morbidities. His oxygen saturation also needs to be above 95 per cent. In case any patient in these satellite centres turns critical, he or she is being hospitalised. “We are keeping a few beds in reserve for such situations,” the source said.
The hotel quarantine service comes at Rs 8,000 per day for single occupancy and Rs 5,000 per person per day for double occupancy.
Calcutta Heart Clinic and Hospital has also taken 19 beds at Hotel The Sojourn. “There is a crisis for beds and young people too are getting infected this time. This is a pre-hospitalisation stage where people are better monitored than at home. It is providing us a buffer zone before admission and after discharge and improving bed circulation,” said Subhankar Chatterjee, the Covid nodal officer at the hospital. The charges are Rs 5,000 per head for twin sharing and Rs 6,000 for solo occupancy. The hospital in HC Block has 67 non-ICU Covid beds of which just one was free on Wednesday evening.
Plan for oxygen plant
“We are planning to expand our facilities by 15-20 more beds. But for that we need to be self-sufficient in oxygen generation. An oxygen plant has been commissioned but will take about two months to be ready,” said Chatterjee.
He also appealed to the government for supply of Rapid Antigen Test kit. “Results of RT PCR tests are taking 72 hours. Treatment is getting delayed. If we get the kit we can do the RAT ourselves,” he said.
In the lean season, the hotels are happy to make the best of the situation.
“We have offered the rooms at rock bottom prices to the hospitals. This is almost social service for us,” said Piku Bhattacharya, finance and revenue manager at Hotel The Sojourn. “Our housekeeping staff clean the rooms and the toilets daily in PPE and our kitchen provides five meals. Nurses of both hospitals are present to check on the patients and doctors are dropping by. They are taking the patients to the hospital if they need CT scan or if the oxygen saturation drops below permissible limits,” she said, adding that her staffers were providing stellar service. “Last year, when the satellite facility was started some had quit in fear. But seeing zero infections take place so far has bolstered their confidence,” she said.
