Health facility for COVID-19 patients inaugurated at NIPA

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Sunday inaugurated the newly established 200-bed Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital & Research Centre that would start its operations initially with 54 beds and within the next six weeks, it would begin to utilise its total capacity of 200 beds.

“Today we have inaugurated this hospital in the first phase and now we are upgrading its status as a research centre so that necessary research on coronavirus and other infectious diseases could be undertaken. From now onwards, its name would be Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital & Research Centre, Karachi,” the CM stated while performing the inauguration.

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho, Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Vice Chancellor Prof Saeed Quraishy were also present on the occasion.

The hospital has been constructed at a cost of Rs.1,736 billion at NIPA. After the pandemic, Murad decided to convert it into an infectious diseases hospital and provided a special grant to the health department so that it could be made operational.

During the recent two months, the CM visited the incomplete structure of the hospital thrice and ensured the completion of its Block A and Block B. The Block C of the facility is, however, yet to be completed.

The task to complete the hospital was given to the DUHS and its VC supervised the installation of all the hospital equipment there before its operations could begin.

The two floors of the hospital inaugurated on Sunday by the CM have a total of 54 beds, including eight beds at the emergency ward, 16 beds at the intensive care unit (ICU) provided with the ventilator support and 34 beds at the high dependency units (HDUs). In the second and third floors that would be made functional within the next six weeks, there would be another 32 beds in the ICU and 88 beds in the HDU.

In addition to these beds, there are radiology services at the facility that include a 500 MA X-ray machine, a mobile X-ray unit, an ultrasound machine and a mobile ultrasound unit.

A total of 16 ventilators, 200 monitors with telemetry system, six defibrillators, six ECG machines, complete oxygen, air and vacuum system for each bed, one arterial blood gas (ABG) machine and other equipment have also been arranged for the hospital.

The managerial staff appointed at the hospital in the first phase include a medical superintendent, an additional medical superintendent, a finance and accounts manager and an assistant administrator. Among the clinical staff include an assistant professor, two critical care consultants, three junior critical care consultants, a nursing manager, 15 medical officers, five ICU technicians and others. The janitorial and security services have been contracted out.