Kasargod: The first dedicated hospital for COVID in Kerala will be ready in a week. The hospital with 541 beds is being set up on five acres of land at Puthiyavalapu, Chattanchal, in Kasargod district.
The Tata Group, which is building the hospital, has informed the district administration that the construction is nearing completion and is ready to be handed over.
The administration had accepted the group’s offer to build the COVID hospital when the limitations of the health infrastructure in the district came under discussion after a sharp rise in the number of COVID positive cases in the second stage of transmission of the coronavirus in March-April.
The construction of the hospital began on April 11 and will be completed in 124 days.
The Tata Group’s contract will be over with the hospital handover. The state government will be responsible for all the facilities and arrangements for the functioning of the hospital – from getting the beds to recruiting doctors and other staff. Its maintenance will also be taken care of by the government.
The district's bulldozer owners' association and contractors had given their vehicles for free to help level the land for the construction of the hospital. More than 50 bulldozers worked continuously for two weeks to level the ground.
Hospital to have 128 units
The 51,200 square feet hospital has been built at a cost of Rs 60 crore and will have 128 units. The only work remaining is laying of the road, which is being made difficult by the monsoon rains as tarring needs two days of sun.
The hospital building can be used for 30 years without problems. If properly maintained, its utility can extend to 50 years.
Each unit is equivalent to a container that is 10 metres long and 4m wide. There will be five beds for people under observation; for COVID positive patients, there will be three beds. There are also single-bed units for the elderly with beds that can be adjusted.
Each unit has two air conditioners and five fans, separate toilets, air purifiers and air vent ducts.
There are two units in each row, and two rows will face each other. There is a corridor through the middle and a common roof.
There is a way for doctors and staff to move between two units.
Prefabricated technology
The hospital was built with units that were manufactured at various Tata plants in the country and brought to Chattanchal in container lorries. The units were then fixed on a concrete bed prepared at the site.
The units were sourced from Tatas’ plants in Chandigarh, Gujarat, Faridabad, Hyderabad and Howrah. Some units were also built on a contract basis in Mangalore. The units are made of styrofoam puffs filled between layers of steel. This technology helps to reduce heat inside the units.