Nashik : Rural hospitals converted into dedicated covid care centre in district

NASHIK: The district health department has converted 16 rural hospitals, trauma care centres and other medical facilities into dedicated covid health centres (DCHCs) to streamline treatment for Covid-19 and non-covid patients.

Anant Pawar, the resident medical officer of Nashik civil hospital, said the decision was taken as rural hospitals and trauma centres were not getting too many non-covid patients.

Pawar added there are at least two good medical facilities — like a sub-district hospital or a rural hospital and a trauma care centre — in every taluka of the district. In bigger talukas, there are three such facilities.

“Some new facilities, inclyding the building of the Sinnar rural hospital, which was not thrown open to public prior to the pandemic, were also converter into DCHCs after the outbreak,” he said.

Out-patient departments have been set up at places that have been converted into DCHCs.

Pawar said a majority of the cases in the rural hospitals are related to maternity/delivery issues or diarrhoea, snake bite, road accidents etc. After the medical facility is converted into a DCHC, a non-covid government medical facility is identified within a 20-km radius.

He said all works like setting up centralised oxygen pipleline at the DCHCs have been completed. There are 540 beds at the DCHCs across the district. However, not all are filled to capacity as the number of cases is low in some talukas, said Pawar.