ICU bed capacity increased at Alappuzha MCH

The number of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Alappuzha, has been increased. As part of the expansion of the Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Unit (MDICU) at the hospital, 10 beds have been added in the Medicine department at a cost of ₹12 lakh.

The MDICU earlier had 16 beds in the Surgery unit and nine in the Step-down unit. With the addition of 10 more beds in the Medicine ICU, the number of ICU beds in these sections has increased to 35. Another two beds are available in the Isolation unit, taking the total number of ICU beds in the MDICU to 37.

When the beds in the room that previously functioned as Ward 8 were shifted to the Super Speciality Block, the resulting vacant space was used to set up a new Emergency ICU with nine beds. The Trauma ICU also has nine beds. With this, apart from the ICU in the Super Speciality Block, there are now 55 ICU beds in the old building complex.

H. Salam, MLA, said that the increase in ICU beds would make it possible to provide emergency care to more critically ill patients and, to some extent, reduce the need to transfer such patients to other hospitals.

Mr. Salam had earlier written to Health Minister Veena George requesting an increase in the number of ICU beds at the hospital.

The MLA inaugurated the renovated Medicine ICU on Thursday. Government Medical College, Alappuzha, Principal B. Padmakumar; MCH superintendent A. Harikumar; Medicine department head Suresh Raghavan; MDICU nodal officer N. R. Sajikumar; chief nursing officer P.K. Usha; nursing superintendents S. Mini, M. Nalini, G. Jalajamma, E.G. Sheeba and others attended.