The Indian Medical Association (IMA), in coordination with the doctors of both government and private hospitals, is set to launch an exclusive 140-bed COVID-19 hospital for doctors and members of the judiciary, and the same would be functional on the ESI Hospital premises at Tirupati from July 15.
Speaking to The Hindu, the IMA Tirupati Chapter president, P. Ravi Raju said that it was for the first time in India that the IMA had come out with an action plan to launch a hospital for the doctors and judiciary.
‘Round-the-clock care’
“All government and private doctors have expressed their overwhelming support to the project. The highlight of the hospital is that we are going to have pulmonologists, critical and intensive care specialists round-the-clock,” Dr. Ravi Raju said.
Thanking Deputy Chief Minister K. Narayanaswamy and District Collector Narayana Bharat Gupta for their immediate nod for the project, the IMA functionary said that the move to have a COVID hospital would boost the morale of the medical fraternity at a time when close to 20 staff had tested positive in Chittoor district.
Work hours
“The medical teams from government and private hospitals will be deputed here in three shifts. The cases will also be segregated into three categories based on their condition, from asymptomatic to critical. We have brought in all the paraphernalia for treatment. All the medical fraternity involved in this project will be covered under the Aarogyasri and the Prime Minister’s health insurance scheme,” Dr. Ravi Raju said.
The official said that the paramedical staff and administrative staff would be allotted the duties at the hospital through District medical and health officer (DMHO) and District Coordinator of Health Services (DCHS) and Superintendent of SVRR Government Hospital and Director of SVIMS Hospital. The payment for the medical staff at the new hospital would be in tune with the IMA norms.
In order to bring down the workload on the SVRR Government Hospital at Tirupati, the newly-emerging cases would be directly referred to the Padmavathi Hospital and TTD’s Madhavam facility, where the required tests would be conducted, Dr Ravi Raju said.
