Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh visit 1000 bed DRDO-built Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel COVID-19 Hospital in Delhi
Jul 05, 2020
New Delhi [India], July 5 : Union Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday visited the DRDO-built Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel COVID-19 Hospital in Delhi Cantonment.
The hospital is a temporary hospital structure that has been erected in a record time of 12 days and has 1,000 beds including 250 ICU beds.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fully committed to helping the people of Delhi in these challenging times and this COVID hospital is yet again, highlights this resolve."
"I thank DRDO, Tatas and our Armed Forces Medical personnel who have risen to the occasion and helped tackle the emergency," added Shah.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy were also present.
Delhi is currently experiencing a surge in the number of COVID-19 infections with an increasing number of patients requiring medical care. An urgent need to augment the existing hospital beds capacity of Delhi for the COVID-19 patients was discussed between Ministry of Home Affairs and MoD on the modalities of deploying a 1000 bed hospital in a span of less than 14 days. DRDO was asked to establish the hospital.
Amit Shah conducted a series of meetings since June 14 to develop a robust strategy to fight COVID19 by enhancing the capacity of hospitals and developing new facilities also to raise the number of beds.
Reflecting the spirit of defeating COVID19 and curing and saving as many lives as possible, the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel COVID-19 Hospital was developed in just 12 days
"DRDO undertook the design, development and operationalisation of the facility on a war footing. With the permission from the Indian Air Force, land situated near the New Delhi Domestic Terminal T1 was identified and construction work by DRDO commenced the 23rd of June at the site on Ulan Bator road, adjacent to CGDA Hqrs," the government said in a release.
The hospital will be operated by a medical team of Doctors, Nurses and Support Staff from the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) while the facility will be maintained by DRDO. Additionally, for the mental wellbeing of patients, the hospital has a dedicated DRDO managed psychological counselling centre. COVID-19 patients referred by the District Administration will be admitted and treated free of cost at this facility. Critical cases will be referred to AIIMS.
The hospital consists of separate Reception cum Patient Admission Block, Medical Block with Pharmacy and Laboratory, Duty Doctors and Nurses Accommodation and 4 modular Patient Blocks each consisting of 250 beds.
The corridor network has been designed to keep the patient's movement separate from the doctors and staff movement. Sanitation facilities and toilets are situated between the blocks for easy access to patients and facility personnel.
The facility will be secured with security staff, CCTV surveillance and access control systems. The hospital is equipped with an integrated fire safety and control system. Environmental, Safety and Waste Disposal Processes have been built into the design of operations. A large parking area has been designated for Staff, Public, Ambulances and Firefighting services.
"Having been constructed in 12 days, commissioning of this Hospital will contribute to an increase of 11 per cent additional COVID-19 beds in Delhi, thus overcoming the current critical situation," it said.
