Covid isolation ward at Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, shifted to smaller facility

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Patiala, April 27

After two years of Covid-19 outbreak, Government Rajindra Hospital has decided to shift the Covid isolation ward from the newly built MCH building to the medicine ward of the hospital. The MCH building, which was meant for the paediatric and gynaecology department, was converted into an isolation ward in the face of Covid outbreak in 2020. The new development, said the experts, is likely to reduce the number of Covid beds drastically. The new isolation ward has the capacity of 60 beds while the earlier isolation ward had a capacity of 300. However, hospital authorities claimed that the number of hospitalisations in the succeeding wave is reducing and there wouldn’t be any dearth of beds.

Every district hospital is now capable of managing Covid patients. The number of hospitalisations in the third wave was less. Dr Harjinder Singh, Director-Principal

The eight floor MCH building was completed in 2017, however, the hospital could not take possession due to some flaws therein. In 2020, the building, which was lying vacant, was converted into an isolation ward.

Commenting on shifting the Covid isolation ward to a smaller facility, Dr Harjinder Singh, Director-Principal, Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital, said the number of hospitalisations had considerably gone down. “Every district hospital is now capable of managing Covid patients. Besides, the number of hospitalisations was also less in the third wave.”

He said the functioning of the paediatric and gynaecology department was being severely affected owing to the MCH building being converted into an isolation ward.

Dr Harjinder Singh said they had sent a proposal to the government to build an infectious disease centre to manage any health outbreaks— such as Covid— in future without affecting regular departments of the hospital.