Gandhi Hospital converted into Covid only hospital

In view of the surge in Covid-19 cases, the State government has converted Gandhi Hospital into an exclusive Covid care facility with immediate effect.

The move comes in the wake of extreme pressure from Covid positive patients and their relatives for hospital beds and healthcare facilities, following the rise in cases during the second wave of the pandemic.

All the casualty/emergency and outpatient services at Gandhi Hospital will be halted in addition to postponing elective surgeries that were scheduled to be taken up in the coming days by other medical departments.

Gandhi Hospital Superintendent Dr M Raja Rao, in a circular on Friday, said that ‘rapid surge of Covid-19 patient load all over the State and in accordance to the instructions from senior health authorities, it has been decided to stop all non-Covid services and outpatient services in Gandhi Hospital immediately’.

Heads of Departments and faculty



were instructed not to admit non-Covid cases and in case of emergency and terminally ill patients, they should be stabilised and then transferred. “The cases which are present in their respective wards should be cleared at the earliest and all the beds should be made available for Covid patients,” Dr Raja Rao said in the circular.

From now on, Covid positive cases would be admitted in all wards and in all departments of the hospital. All departments should provide medical care to Covid patients round-the-clock without fail, Dr Rao made it clear.

At present, there are over 450 critical Covid patients admitted to Gandhi Hospital and need ICU and ventilator care. On Thursday, the hospital witnessed close to 150 Covid-related admissions, which forced the decision to convert the hospital into Covid-only facility. Senior health officials said that the inpatient block of the hospital was already packed with Covid positive cases.