Second Covid hospital in Ponda to be commissioned by tomorrow: Goa government

PANAJI: Health minister Vishwajit Rane said on Sunday that the government has decided to convert the sub-district hospital, Ponda, into a second Covid hospital. He made the announcement after a series of meetings with senior doctors and officials of the department of health, and said it would be commissioned in the next 48 hours.
The state’s only Covid facility, the ESI hospital in Margao, is now almost full.As a record 506 new cases were detected on Sunday, a temporary holding ward has been created at the Goa Medical College (GMC) and hospital, Bambolim, to admit new patients that require immediate help but can’t be accommodated at the ESI-Covid hospital.

“After a joint consultation with chief minister Pramod Sawant and other officials, the government has decided to declare the Ponda sub-district hospital as the second Covid hospital,” said Rane. “Arrangements are being made to transfer the patients from the sub-district hospital to other facilities.”
Need 10 days to commission Hospicio: Vishwajit Rane
They will either be accommodated in the North Goa district hospital or GMC.
Rane also said that teams of doctors from GMC and the directorate of health services would take charge of the new Covid hospital in Ponda in the next 48 hours. The order appointing them has been issued, he said.
GMC dean and head of the Margao Covid hospital, Dr S M Bandekar, said all patients with comorbid conditions will be managed in Margao. All antenatal patients from ESI will be shifted to Ponda sub-district hospital. “There are 26 antenatal patients,” he said. Rane said that over the next 10 days, all departments from Hospicio will be shifted to the new South Goa district hospital. “It will take around 10 days to commission Hospicio,” he said.
The minister also said that doctors are available in adequate numbers, and wherever required, more will be recruited.
“Housekeeping at the ESI hospital has been given to EcoClean, while a proposal has been moved to appoint Sodexo to provide catering services at the hospital,” he said.