Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday inaugurated a 500-bedded Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) COVID-19 hospital with an ICU facility, at Khonmoh in Srinagar. DRDO has played a key role in India’s fight against COVID19. After completing a 500-bedded hospital in Jammu, a 500-bedded hospital in Srinagar, completed in just 17 days, is being commissioned today.Deepest gratitude to the PM Narendra Modi Ji, the HM Amit Shah Ji, and the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Ji for providing the necessary assistance and interventions in augmenting healthcare & medical facilities across J&K.DRDO’s Khonmoh facility is Centrally Air-conditioned and has 125 ICU beds, out of which 25 are reserved for children. 375 beds are connected to 24×7 oxygen supply. 10 bedded Triage area has also been built in 100 sqm, housing all the requisite modern facilities.We devised a strategy to implement a host of interventions viz. augmentation of ICU & Oxygen supported beds, deployment of former medical and newly qualified staff, decentralization of health system through Panchayat Covid Care Centres & accelerated vaccination drive.The result of our collective efforts is heartening.J&K now has a greater capacity to treat all Covid-19 & other patients, all because of the dynamic impact assessment of various interventions and taking timely decisions to increase hospital capacity in response to the pandemic.Dr Anil Khurana, chief construction engineer, DRDO-Chandigarh said: “This facility was constructed in 17 days. This 500-bedded facility includes 125 ICU beds and 375 beds connected to a high flow oxygen pipeline. We also have 60 tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen tanks here”Dr Anil Khurana further said that the hospital is also equipped with lab equipments, portable X-ray machines and a pharmacy along with this, accommodations for around 150-160 people have been arranged.“We have also provided a robotic trolley for severe covid patients to protect doctors and para-medical staffs. The trolley will be used to provide water, medicines, etc. to patients. The patients have also been given a tab to contact their family members,” said Khurana.He further said that the Covid hospital is fully under CCTV surveillance for security and other purposes.
