Corporates to set up 40 ICU beds at Bengaluru children’s hospital
Dr PS Harsha, Karnataka DIPR chief and nodal officer for health infra, lauds donors
BENGALURU:
In a meeting with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday, representatives of various companies offered to set up 40 ICU beds at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health in Bengaluru. Along with this, a 500 LPM oxygen plant will also come up at the hospital through the companies’ CSR.
In addition, 50 oxygen concentrators donated by Yooil Infrastructure with technical support from UNDP, and 50 non-invasive BIPAP ventilators donated by Indian-American Donors, were handed over to the CM.
The companies include the Embassy group, 3M, Swiss Re, Capital and Hope Foundation, Axa, iCEMA and CII, while the oxygen plant is from Lowe’s supported by Sambhav Foundation.
Dr PS Harsha, Nodal Officer and DIPR Commissioner, was present.
CM’s praise for companies
Lauding the donors, the CM said, “The way companies have come together to join hands with the government in this battle against the pandemic is commendable. This reflects the spirit of volunteerism and civic participation the city has been known for.”
Ramesh Ramdorai, chairman, CII-Karnataka chapter, expressed his appreciation of the support provided by the Health Department as well as Dr Harsha.
Harsha’s initiatives
The CM had in April this year appointed Dr Harsha as Nodal Officer with a mandate to set up 500 ICU beds in all 8 BBMP zones. Due to his initiatives, the following infrastructure is in place in anticipation of a third Covid wave:
• About 780 beds are at different stages of augmentation and 104 beds have already been set up and are operational. 24 beds have been set up in Jayanagar General Hospital by Embassy and AZU.
• CV Raman General Hospital has got 56 beds through contributions from 3M, Hitachi, ABB Power Grids and the Volvo group.
• Another 24 beds are operational in the Epidemic Diseases Hospital in collaboration with the Embassy group, McAfee, AXA, Yahoo, Capital and Swiss Re. The implementation of 190 beds being set up by Texas Instruments is underway at RGICD.
Appreciating the CSR initiative of the donor companies, Dr Harsha said, “Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley and knowledge capital of India, has been home to several multinational companies of global repute. It is extremely heartening that many companies are now coming forward to extend their solidarity and support to society when it is needed the most.”
Any corporate interested in partnering with the government to upgrade the state’s healthcare infrastructure can contact the Nodal Officer at nodalicubbmp@gmail.com.
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