At a time when the total coronavirus cases in the state have crossed over 40,000, the new cases have shown a marginal decline. A noticeable trend observed is that majority of the patients opt for home isolation, and as such, the Covid hospital at South Goa district hospital catering to mild symptomatic patients finds itself underutilized.
A month has passed since the hospital began operations as a full-fledged COVID hospital, however, with promises of upgrades, the new hospital still finds itself not used to the maximum.
Statistics reported mention that the hospital currently, as of Monday evening, has only 70 patients admitted – 13 of them on oxygen. The bed capacity at the hospital – 150 bedded. At a time when Goa’s apex hospital has been witnessing major stress onto its facilities, the government, despite stating to increase the capacity at the new establishment, has not commenced any work yet.
A few weeks earlier, when the state was witnessing an alarming rise in new cases, the government had announced to increase the bed capacity at the hospital to 350. However, with a recent decline in new cases over the last week, a number of vacant beds are being noticed at the hospital.
Furthermore, arrangements for setting up a dedicated ICU facility at the hospital was also proposed, but it is yet to see the light of the day. The proposed facility, if set-up, will prove to be a key aspect to ease the burden off the Goa Medical College, where the majority of the critical patients are shifted.
It is learnt that if the hospital is put to the best use, it would prove to be an important asset to the state’s medical infrastructure, as in the future if the second wave of new cases does approach, facilities will already be available.
State authorities will not have to scramble for space and other related issues once the facility is fully equipped. Also, in the future, the facility will prove handy for South Goa residents as many critical cases can be tendered here itself, rather than being shifted to GMC.
Meanwhile, the new morgue facility at the premises began operating earlier this month, enabling better mortuary facilities.
Initially, the new South Goa district hospital started by having OPD facilities from the old Hospicio shifted there, however, after being assigned as a Covid hospital, the OPD and other facilities were shifted back to Hospicio.
With many patients reporting ailments after recovering from Covid-19, a proposed post-covid care clinic is expected to be set up at the Hospicio building. The proposal is currently sent to the Directorate of Health Services, and if approved, officials say they may even commence it from this week on Thursday. It will be a weekly service and further decisions will be taken based on the response achieved.
