Several private hospitals in the city are planning new initiatives in wings that were till now being used for Covid related requirements.
Some of the facilities were used to treat Covid patients while others were for vaccination, officials of these hospitals said.
“Now that the number of Covid patients admitted have come down, we are planning to invest in setting up other facilities. Even if there is a third wave, we are prepared to deal with it,” said Rupak Barua, the group CEO of AMRI.
The hospital chain had completed construction of an eight-storey wing at its Mukundapur unit in east Kolkata in January. During the second wave of the pandemic, the facility was used to admit Covid patients. “We will be investing Rs 15 crore to set up an advanced multi-speciality facility to handle more complex cases like liver transplant,” said Barua.
The hospital is also planning to add three more floors on the Annexe I building at its Dhakuria unit in south Kolkata.
The Telegraph reported on Tuesday (September 14) how many hospitals have resumed projects which were stalled because of the pandemic.
“There is a real pressure to increase non-Covid beds particularly in critical care, general surgery and cardiology,” said Rupali Basu, the CEO and managing director of Woodlands Hospital.
The hospital had set up a vaccination unit on Alipore Road that could accommodate 1,000 people everyday. “However, the footfall has gone down to around 300 everyday. So we will be using part of that facility to set up Woodlands homecare services,” said Basu.
Ruby General Hospital had set up 40 ICU beds during the pandemic which were used to treat critical Covid patients.
“Now, we will be using the new facility for non-Covid patients,” said Subhashis Dutta, the chief general manager, operations of Ruby General Hospital.
“We are targeting to go upto 360 beds by November,” he said.