Amit Shah inaugurates 900-bed DRDO Covid hospital in Ahmedabad

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday informed the media that another 1200-bed hospital in Gujarat has been planned for Covid patients. It will be set up by DRDO at the Gandhinagar-based helipad ground with the funds and cooperation of the Tata Trust.

Shah had come to the GMDC Ground to inspect the 900-bed Dhanvantari Covid Hospital set up by the DRDO. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel also joined him. The hospital, situated at the Gujarat University Convention Centre at GMDC, Ahmedabad, will be opened today. 

Shah also said that the city will have isolation centres for which the Karnavati Club, ADC, GSC, Rajpath Club and Umiya Parivar have given their consent. Beds and other expenses will be borne by the organizations. The expenses for primary treatment, medicines and meals will be borne by the Gujarat government. This initiative will be taken further across Gujarat. 

A toll-free number will also be started with over 50 doctors and lung experts on the line to offer telephonic guidance to home-isolated persons. The service will start within two days, Shah said. Similarly, a medical consultancy hotline will also be launched in a call centre mode to facilitate doctors providing guidance over the phone.

People in Shah’s constituency, including Naranpura, Ghatlodia, Sabarmati, Sanand, Bopal, Ghuma and Daskaroi, will also be provided with two state-of-the-art on-wheels laboratory vans and eight ambulances. The laboratory van will be equipped with biochemistry analyzers, blood cell counters, microscopes and centrifuge machines. Samples for RT-PCR tests will also be accepted. An ICU-on-wheels has also been planned, which will have facilities for ventilator and oxygen support. The laboratory van will also be launched today along with the DRDO Covid hospital.

At the DRDO hospital, all 900 beds will be equipped with oxygen facilities. 150 ICUs and ventilators have been arranged. Arrangements have also been made to add 500 more beds, if required. The hospital will be equipped with a portable X-ray machine. The hospital will have intensive and critical care facilities as well as all basic facilities like toilets and bathrooms for patients. In addition to the helpdesk, there will be meals for patients and on-duty doctors and paramedical staff. 

The management of the hospital has been handed over to Principal Secretary, Department of Higher and Technical Education, Anju Sharma, Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat University Dr. Himanshu Pandya and DRDO Col B. Chaubey. Officials of the Gujarat government will also cooperate in managing this hospital.