A total of 365 ICU beds have been added to Assam government hospitals with the creation of 10BedICU wards in 23 district hospitals in the state.
These were inaugurated in Guwahati on Monday by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, along with Keshab Mahanta, state minister for Health and Family Welfare, 10BedICU Chairman Srikanth Nadhamuni and senior government officials.
The project is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the Assam health department, eGovernments Foundation, and Karuna Trust.
To supplement the beds, three TeleICU hubs will be established at three major medical institutions in the state: Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Silchar Medical College and Hospital, and Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh. These TeleICU hubs will enable specialist doctors from these medical colleges to provide online consultations for “resource constrained and remote locations,” an eGov Foundation spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, the 10BedICU project was started in May 2021 during the second COVID wave “to create critical care ICU infrastructure in rural and smaller government hospitals.”
Five other projects were also launched by the Assam government on Monday. Among these is a National Emergency Life Support Skill Centre worth Rs. 2.5 crore under which five skill stations for training faculty, staff and students in advanced emergency life support skills have been set up in GMCH.
