Malkajgiri MP and TPCC working president A. Revanth Reddy has urged Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy to expedite the setting up of an oxygen plant at the Bolarum Primary Health Care centre in Cantonment area.
Mr. Reddy has requested Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and DRDO chairman G. Satheesh Reddy for setting up the oygen plant on the hospital premises using PM-CARES funds.
“I have already written to them and they have agreed in principle. In fact, the DRDO has already sent 50 cylinders to start with and once the oxygen plant is set up, the hospital can function in a full-fledged manner,” he said.
The Congress MP is working on converting the little-used PHC, which falls under his Parliamentary constituency, into an exclusive COVID hospital. After donating ₹1 crore from his MPLAD funds, he has raised an equal amount through friends and well-wishers to procure equipment for the hospital
Another ₹10 crore is being raised through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds of a number of companies in his constituency and they have been requested to contribute in the form of equipment needed to refurbish the 100-year-old hospital set up on a huge campus.
He hoped that the hospital will start functioning for COVID patients within a week as the building has been refurbished and facilities like ICU, beds for wards and other rooms have been created and oxygen pipelines laid.
“We will start with 50 beds now and upgrade it to 100 beds when the oxygen plant is set up,” he added.
Mr. Reddy has also tapped the CSR funds from various industries in his Parliamentary constituency: “In fact, Bharat Biotech that produces Covaxin and pharma company manufacturing Remedesivir injections are also in the constituency and I have requested them for priority assistance and they have agreed”.
The Congress leader, who is also on the Parliamentary Defence Committee, has impressed upon the DRDO to commit an additional 50 cylinders apart from the 50 they have already contributed since the hospital comes under the Defence Ministry.
The Cantonment Board has also issued a notification for short-term appointment of para-medical staff. As of now, the hospital is functioning with eight doctors and eight nurses. “We want to make best use of their services by converting it into a COVID special hospital,” Mr. Reddy explained.
