Second COVID Hospital facility to come up at Bandhabahal in the district of Jharsuguda.

Jharsuguda: A Second COVID Hospital facility of 100 General bed and 20 ICU bed will come up at Bandhabahal in the district of Jharsuguda. This was informed by Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das.

Odisha Health & Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das said, “With the increase of total 20 ICU Bed capacity at COVID Hospital, Jharsuguda, another Second 120 bedded Covid Hospital including 20 ICU bed is going to be set up at Bandhabahal, which has been approved by Odisha Government after the proposal was sent by Jharsuguda District Collector. These 120 bed Covid Hospital facilities will be managed by SUM Hospital. In addition to this for COVID duty, we have posted 19 PG doctors and 8 inter doctors in the Jharsuguda district, among which around 12 doctors have already joined. Earlier, various Local representatives of the region had been demanded another COVID facility and today it has been fulfilled by our CM, on behalf of the people of Jharsuguda I want to express a thank you to our CM.”

Earlier, on 10^th May, Jharsuguda District Collector Saroj Kumar Samal had written a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary of Health & Family Welfare Department regarding the need of creating another COVID hospital facility in the district.

He stated that at present we have a bed capacity of 220 including 20 in ICU at COVID Hospital, Jharsuguda and 160 beds are being filled up, as oxygen pipeline laying work is still continuing in some unoccupied portion of the Hospital and looking at the situation and intensity of the epidemic, the requirement will surpass the capacity of 220 bedded hospital. Subsequently, the space in 20 bedded ICU also always remains exhausted and our frantic contact with the facilities of nearby districts also bears 10 to 20% success as most of the times they are found not in a position to accommodate.

District Administration, Jharsuguda has taken up the matter with Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd. (MCL) authorities for funding with regard to the management of another 100 bedded hospital with 20 bedded ICU. In fact, there is a huge infrastructure available in the form of a newly constructed building at Bandhabahal as part of the plan of a bedded hospital of MCL in which on our request at present they are running a COVID Care Centre/COVID Health Centre of 50 beds. The same can be scaled up to a designated COVID Hospital with 100 beds in general wards and 20 ICU beds. The MCL authorities will bear the cost of institution-building and operation. In which we seek the intervention of Government in Health & Family Welfare Department in finding a partner preferably SUM Hospital, or any other.”