500-bedded COVID-19 hospital inaugurated in Odisha

Bhubaneswar:  Amidst the sudden spike in a number of COVID-19 positive cases in the state in the last few days, Odisha has come up with one more hospital in the state capital to tackle the situation, in case of a flare-up.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pralhad Joshi inaugurated the COVID-19 hospital at Sum Hospital here through video conference. The 500-bed hospital with 20 ICU beds at the existing building of SUM Hospital is being funded by central PSU Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL).  The hospital will provide treatment, food and other facilities to affected  persons free of cost, sources said.

After inaugurating, CM Naveen interacted with doctors and healthcare workers of the hospital through video conference and appreciated their commitment to serve people during this global pandemic. He also thanked the Union Ministers for their support and MCL for sponsoring this facility for people of odisha. He also appreciated SOA for setting up this facility in record time.

With this, Odisha is ready with four hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients.  Earlier, a 500-bedded hospital was developed at KIMS  while another hospital with 125 beds was inaugurated at Ashwini Hospital in Cuttack . Besides, the Sundergarh district administration has established a 200-bedded dedicated COVID-19 hospital with 10 ICU beds at Hi-tech Medical College and Hospital in Rourkela,