Army moving field hospital from Himachal to Chandigarh for setting COVID centre
Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 27
The Army is moving a field hospital from Himachal Pradesh to Chandigarh after the UT Administration requested the Western Command for setting up a COVID-19 care centre in view of the spike in infection cases.
The 100-bed facility will come up at the International Students Hostel in Panjab University’s Sector 25 campus.
The Army will begin moving in the equipment and staff tomorrow and the facility is expected to be fully functional in five days.
According to Col Jasdeep Sandhu, Director Civil-Military Affairs at Headquarters Western Command, the Army will be providing medicines, oxygen, ambulances and other supplies for the centre, besides doctors, para-medical and support staff.
Specialist medical cover will also be provided by the Command Hospital in Chandimandir.
In addition, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Research and Education, Sector 12, and the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, would also be available for any support. Civilian doctors would also be deputed for liaison.
A meeting was held by the Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh, VP Singh Badnore, with officers from Headquarters Western Command today, where modalities for setting up the centre were discussed.
The International Students Hostel was selected by the Army after a survey of several sites as it has over a 100 air-conditioned rooms and open space adjacent to it. The Chandigarh Administration had earlier earmarked it as a COVID care centre on payment basis.
The Army is also moving a couple of field hospitals from different locations to other cities in the region, besides working with the civilian administration to make oxygen generation plants functional.
